By Jamie McGeever
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Formal job creation in Brazil surged to a record high in October, figures showed on Thursday, as the dominant services sector roared back to life to account for around 40% of new jobs.
A net 394,989 formal jobs were created in October, the economy ministry said, marking the fourth month in a row of gains and significantly more than the 233,500 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
That reduced the net number of formal job losses in the first 10 months of this year to 171,139, the ministry said, also significantly less than 2015 and 2016 when Brazil was last in recession.
Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said last week that Brazil could end this year having lost only around 300,000 formal jobs, as the economic rebound in the second half of the year claws back most of the jobs lost in the first half.
“(This) was the best result not only for 2020 but also the best in history,” the economy ministry said. “The performance reinforces the recovery of the Brazilian economy after the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In October, 1.55 million jobs were created and 1.15 million were cut, the ministry said. Services led the way with a net 156,766 new jobs, followed by trade (115,646) and industry (86,426).
In the first 10 months of 2015 and 2016, a net 818,918 and 751,816 jobs had been lost, respectively, economy ministry figures showed.
The figures also showed that the formal labor market in October consisted of 38.6 million workers, the highest since March this year as discouraged workers returned to look for work.
Official labor market data for the three months to September will be released next week. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to a new series high of 14.9% from 14.4%.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
