Marinho calls inflationary risk with job growth an “aberration”

The Minister of Labor and Employment, Luiz Marinho, spoke again this Tuesday (April 30, 2024) about the trajectory of Selic. In a critical tone, he defended being a “need” the maintenance of the cycle of declines in the basic interest rate, currently at 10.75% per year.

“I feel a little bewildered, shocked, to see analyzes in the mainstream press by so-called market experts, who, when there is positive data on employment and income, on the wage bill, come to draw attention to the inflationary risk. I think this is an economic aberration because inflation is under control”he declared in an interview with journalists.

Marinho highlighted that Brazil has the 2nd highest real interest rate in the world, just behind Mexico. He acknowledged that there were difficulties with the rise in food prices in the 1st quarter. “We should have taken action to import rice from Venezuela, for example, because there was a decrease in the planted area in Brazil”he said.

The minister spoke about the subject during the release of data from the Caged (General Register of Employed and Unemployed) in March. Brazil created 244,315 jobs with a formal contract in March 2024.

The result is a record and represents an increase of 25.7% compared to the same month in 2023, when 194,372 jobs were created. Here is the full report (PDF – 1 MB).