Brazil Sees Fifth Consecutive Month of Positive Employment Balance

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For the fifth consecutive month, Brazil had a positive balance in formal job creation. In August, the number of additional openings in the labor market was 121,387, which is the positive balance resulting from 1,382,407 admissions and 1,261,020 dismissals.

The August result represents a variation of 0.31 percent in relation to the previous month. It was the best result for the month of August since 2013, according to the figures. In the accumulated of 2019, 593,467 new posts were created, with a variation of 1.55 percent over the previous year’s stock. In the same period of 2018, there was a growth of 568,551 jobs.

Among the main economic sectors, four recorded a positive employment balance and in two there were more jobs closed in the month ended in August. The service sector leads the number of jobs generated (61,730 positions), followed by retail (23,626), manufacturing (19,517), civil construction (17,306), public administration (1,391) and mineral extraction (1,235). The balance was negative for agriculture (-3,341 posts) and industrial services of public utility/SIUP (-77 posts).

Regions and average salary

All five macro-regions in the country recorded a positive employment balance in August. In the Southeast, 51,382 new jobs were created, followed by the Northeast (34,697), South (13,267), Center-West (11,431) and North (10,610).

The average salary for admission in August 2019 was R$1,619.45 and the average salary for dismissal was R$1,769.59. In real terms (deflated by the National Consumer Price Index – INPC), there was an increase of 0.44 percent in the admission salary and 0.09 percent in the dismissal salary in comparison to the previous month. In relation to the same month in the previous year, an increase of 1.97 percent was recorded in the average admission salary and 1.02 percent in the dismissal salary.

Labor reform

Based on the labor reform rules, which provide for dismissal agreements between employers and employees, CAGED recorded a total of 18,420 dismissals in this category, representing 1.5 percent of the total involving 13,351 establishments, in a universe of 12,105 companies.

The month of August also saw 12,929 admissions and 6,356 dismissals in the intermittent work category, in which the employee is available to the employer, but is only paid when called to work. This type of hiring generated, last month, a balance of 6,573 jobs, involving 3,239 establishments and 2,830 contracting companies. A total of 85 employees signed more than one contract in the condition of the intermittent worker.

In August, 7,804 part-time admissions and 5,154 dismissals were recorded, generating a balance of 2,650 jobs, involving 4,211 establishments and 3,583 contracting companies. A total of 44 employees signed more than one contract on a part-time basis.

Through social media, President Jair Bolsonaro commented on the CAGED data and said that “Brazil continues to recover”.

Source: Agência Brasil