Good morning! The most important facts of the week. How much will the pension reform save? How markets performed. How do Brazilians get online?
This week in review
Intrigue. The atmosphere between President Bolsonaro and VP Hamilton Mourão appears tense. Mr. Bolsonaro’s sons have attacked the VP on social media, as did the president’s ideological guru, Olavo de Carvalho. Publicly, the president called for unity and less squabbling among his team—but told senators and congressmen that Mr. Mourão is acting as a sort of “parallel president.”
Jobs. Over 43,000 formal jobs disappeared in March—more than half of them in the Northeast. Since January, however, the balance is positive, with net creation of 180,000 jobs. After 4 years of registering more layoffs than hires, Brazil bucked the negative trend in 2018. Still, the country is failing to create well-paying jobs. Only 0.5% of workers hired in 2018 were set to earn more than BRL 10,000 (USD 2,500) per month.
Petrobras. Brazil’s state-controlled oil and gas company Petrobras announced a voluntary layoff program expected to reach 4,300 workers. The move is slated to cost BRL 1.1bn and generate a return of BRL...