Brazil creates 73 thousand formal jobs in May; with a strong drop of 52% compared to the same month in 2025
The Brazilian economy generated 73 thousand formal jobs in May this year, the Ministry of Labor and Employment reported this Tuesday (30).
In total, according to the federal government, the following were recorded in May:
➡2.2 million hirings;
➡2.13 million layoffs.
The result represents a decline of 52.3% in relation to January 2025 - when around 153.1 thousand formal jobs.
This was also the worst result for the months of May since 2020, that is, in six years. See the results for the months of January:
2020: 398.2 thousand vacancies closed;
2021: 266.7 thousand jobs created;
2022: 277.8 thousand vacancies opened;
2023: 156.2 thousand vacancies opened;
2024: 139.8 thousand jobs created
2025: 153.1 thousand vacancies
Comparing numbers with years prior to 2020, according to analysts, is no longer appropriate because the government changed the methodology.
Now in g1
Partial of the year
According to the Ministry of Labor, 767.32 thousand formal jobs were created in the country from January to May this year.
The number represents a 28% drop compared to the same period in 2025, when 1.07 million formal jobs were opened. signed.
This was the worst result in job creation for the first six months of a year since 2020, when 1.34 million formal vacancies were closed.
At the end of May 2026, still according to official data, Brazil had a balance of 47.87 million formal jobs.
The result represents an increase compared to April this year (47.8 million) and in relation to May 2025 (46.9 million).
Digital employment record
Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Jobs by sector
The figures from the General Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons (Caged) for May 2026 show that formal jobs were created in the five sectors of the economy.
Regions of the country
The data also reveals that vacancies were opened in four of the five regions of the country last month.
Average salary of admission
The government also reported that the average admission salary was R$2,384.10 in May this year, which represents a real drop (after inflation) in relation to April 2026 (R$2,402.07).
In comparison with May last year, however, there was an increase in the average admission salary. That month, the value was R$ 2,348.12.
Caged x Pnad
The data from the General Register of Employed and Unemployed consider workers with a formal contract, that is, they do not include informal workers.
As a result, the results are not comparable with the unemployment figures released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), collected through the National Household Sample Survey Continua (Pnad).
According to official data, the unemployment rate in Brazil was 5.6% in the quarter ended in May. According to IBGE, this was the lowest rate in the historical series for that period.
Source: G1