The Brazilian economy continued its streak of positive formal employment numbers, now at eight straight months. The country ended August having added 372,265 net formal jobs — the second-best result of the year, only behind February.
A net total of 2.2 million formal jobs have been created in 2021 so far.
Labor Minister Onyx Lorenzoni credits the positive result to the reopening of local economies as well as federal cash-transfer programs, which are set to expire after October. The services sector continues to be the country’s biggest employer, accounting for roughly half of all new formal jobs opened last month.
But while the economy is capable of creating new jobs, these positions are paying less than before. The average entry-level monthly wage sat at BRL 1,792 (USD 330) in August, a real (after inflation) decrease from August 2020, when new positions paid BRL 1,905 per month on average.
The problem of lower wages becomes even more acute amid a scenario of rapidly rising inflation, with consumer prices jumping 9.68 percent over the 12-month period in August.
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