The Brazilian economy generated 306 thousand formal jobs during the month of February. There were 2.249 million admissions against 1.942 million dismissals. The balance is from the General Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons (Novo Caged) released this Wednesday (27) by the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
The result surpassed the generation of job vacancies in January this year, when 168 thousand formal jobs were created, and also the result of February last year, when 252 thousand vacancies were created. According to the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, the balance even exceeded the government’s own expectations.
“The perspective was that the month would be the same or a little better than last year,” said Marinho. “He more than lived up to our expectations. The number is important.”
The five major sectors of the economy recorded a positive balance in February. Services led with 193 thousand new jobs; followed by industry, 54 thousand jobs; construction, 35 thousand jobs; commerce, 19 thousand jobs; and agriculture, 3.7 thousand vacancies.
Last month, 24 units of the Federation recorded positive job balances. The state with the highest balance was São Paulo (101 thousand jobs).
The average salary for admission in February 2024 was R$2,082.79. This is R$50.42 less than in January — a drop of 2.36%.
Year-to-date, the employment balance was positive at 474.6 thousand jobs. In the last 12 months, the positive balance is 1.6 million jobs.
Inflation
Minister Marinho took advantage of the release of Caged data to refute predictions that link growth in employment in the country to a possible rise in inflation. The rise in prices, according to economic commentators, could lead to an increase in the basic interest rate of the national economy, the Selic, determined by the Central Bank (BC)
For Marinho, the beginning of the year is atypical, in which prices tend to increase more than normal due to seasonal family expenses. He also said that businesspeople can help control inflation by planning their production to serve workers who have gained purchasing power.
*With information from Agência Brasil
Editing: Matheus Alves de Almeida
