July numbers show formal jobs remain resilient

Brazil created 142,702 new formal jobs in July, according to data from the Labor Ministry released today. Results came above market expectations of around 139,000 new opportunities according to Valor Pro, but below the same month last year when more than 225,000 jobs were created. 

As in previous months, Brazil’s formal labor market shows signs of slowing down, especially compared to last year and the strong post-pandemic recovery of the services sector. Even so, the market remains resilient.

The five sectors of the economy monitored by the Labor Ministry posted a net opening of formal jobs in July, with services leading the way with 56,303 new positions, followed by commerce (26,744), construction (25,423), manufacturing (21,254), and agriculture (12,978).

During a live broadcast to release the data, Labor Minister Luiz Marinho said the federal government projects net growth of 2 million formal positions this year, saying this forecast is based not only on the perspective of a drop in the country’s benchmark interest rate but on the new vacancies to be created by new infrastructure and housing programs.

From January to July, the balance of new formal jobs is positive, 1.166 million jobs — slightly below the net creation of jobs in the same period last year, 1.613 million.

Still, the government’s projections are much higher than market expectations, which, according to a poll of hundreds of analysts by real-time news service Broadcast, points to a maximum of 1.7 million new formal jobs throughout the entirety of 2023.

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