Brazil loses 265,811 formal jobs in December, ending 2021 with 2.7 million jobs created

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil lost 265,811 formal jobs in December but ended 2021 with growth, according to data from the General Cadastre for Employed and Unemployed (Caged) released on Monday, January 31. In all, there were 1,437,910 hirings and 1,703,721 layoffs.

Disclosed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the data also show that the country recorded the generation of 2,730,597 formal job vacancies in 2021. The balance for the year was 20,699,802 admissions and 17,969,205 dismissals.

The number is the largest positive balance recorded for closed years in the entire historical series of Caged, which began in 2010.

Last month’s figure was a drop from November’s when Brazil recorded the creation of 300,182 formal job openings after a downward revision. It was also higher than expected by the market, which projected a loss of 162,000 vacancies.

In December, the average hiring salary was R$1,793.34 (US$337.59). According to Caged, only the Trade sector had a positive balance in December, creating 9,013 formal jobs.

The most significant drop was in the Services sector (-104,670), followed by Industry (-92,047), Construction (-52,033), and Agriculture, livestock, forestry, fishing, and aquaculture (-26,073).

Considering Brazil’s regional division, all had a loss of jobs with signed work booklets. The most significant drop was in the South, -1.01%, followed by the North (-0.68%), the Southeast (-0.64%), the Center-West (-0.61%), and the Northeast (-0.23%).

Among the states, only Alagoas and Paraíba had a positive balance of 615 and 61 new jobs, respectively. The worst results were in São Paulo, with a loss of 103,954 jobs, and Santa Catarina, with 36,644 jobs lost.

The balance was positive in the intermittent work regime, with 6,735 new jobs. In all, there were 22,039 hirings and 15,304 layoffs in December 2021.

The sector with the most significant gain was Services (4,480), and the sector with the smallest gain was Agriculture and Husbandry (65). Part-time work had a negative balance, with 6,750 fewer vacancies.

In 2021, the average admission salary was R$1,921.19. The Services sector was the one that hired the most, with 1,226,026 new formal jobs, followed by Commerce (643,754), Industry (475,141), Construction (244,755), and Agriculture (140,927).

In the regional division, the North had the highest percentage generation of vacancies, with a growth of 8.62%, while the Southeast had the highest generation, with 1,348,692 new positions. The lowest generation percentage was in the South, with an increase of 6.6%, and the North was the region that opened the fewest vacancies, 154,667.

Also, according to Caged, in 2021, the balance of intermittent work was 91,340 new jobs created, while part-time work was 35,637 new jobs.

PNAD AND CAGED

Both surveys bring data about work and employment. However, the IBGE survey is broader, with information related to informal employment, which Caged cannot reach. It only refers to hiring records with signed work papers sent by companies, as explained by the director of CNN Brasil Business, Fernando Nakagawa.

Caged brings records of admissions and dismissals of employees hired under the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) regime and is used by the Unemployment Insurance Program to analyze information and pay benefits.