Country creates 328,500 formal job vacancies in February, at a rate even lower than in 2021

The country registered the net creation of 328,500 formal jobs in February, which represents a drop of 17% compared to the same month last year.

The balance this month is the result of 2 million hires and 1.6 million dismissals and was disclosed through the Caged (General Register of Employed and Unemployed), presented this Tuesday (29) by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

In January, the result had already been 38% lower than a year earlier. The ministry has said that the slowdown is natural after the improvement in the economy recorded due to the 2021 recovery after the height of the Covid-19 crisis, the end of emergency measures and the normalization of data.

All sectors registered a positive performance in the month, especially services (215.4 thousand new jobs). The breakdown of data by section shows that the education section alone accounted for 66,500 vacancies.

The list is followed by industry (43 thousand), construction (39.4 thousand), agriculture (17.4 thousand) and commerce (13.2 thousand).

By geographic division, vacancies were also created in all regions. The Southeast led (with the opening of 162,400 jobs) and was followed by the South (82,800), Midwest (40,900), Northeast (28,000) and North (12,700).

Data are limited by the gradual end of the effects of the emergency program to maintain employment and income. Created during the pandemic, the measure was considered essential by experts to sustain the job market during the height of the Covid-19 crisis.

Now, the ministry assesses that the end of the program and the end of the protection of employment relationships will make the data more dependent on the performance of economic activity.

Analysts expect job creation in 2022, albeit at a lower level than last year (in 2021, Brazil created 2.7 million formal jobs, according to published data).

Onyx Lorenzoni, Minister of Labor and Welfare, said in the disclosure about the previous month that the ministry’s projection is to create 1.5 million to 2 million formal jobs in 2022. But analysts calculate a more modest number. Economists at LCA Consultores last month projected the creation of 895,000 jobs in 2022.