Brazil's Formal Job Creation Hits November Low with 85,900 Jobs Added in 2025
Brazil's formal job market slowed in November 2025 with 85,900 jobs created, marking its worst November showing since 2020 and a 19% drop from last year.
- • Brazil created 85,900 formal jobs in November 2025, a 19% decrease from November 2024.
- • The worst November performance since the Caged series started in 2020 was reported.
- • Commerce and services sectors were the only ones to show job growth, while agriculture, construction, and industry saw losses.
- • São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Pernambuco led in job creation among federative units.
Key details
In November 2025, Brazil's formal job creation significantly slowed, with 85,900 new positions opened according to data from the Ministry of Labor and Employment's Caged report. This figure marks a 19% decline from November 2024's 106,100 jobs and represents the weakest November performance since the Caged series began in 2020.
The job market witnessed 1.98 million hires against 1.89 million layoffs during the month. The year-to-date total job creation reached approximately 1.9 million, indicating some resilience despite the slowdown. The average salary of new hires was R$ 2,310.78, with 68.9% of these jobs categorized as typical employment.
Sector analysis showed mixed results: commerce and services were the only sectors with positive job growth—commerce created 78,000 jobs and services added 75,100. Conversely, agriculture lost 16,500 jobs, construction shed 23,800 roles, and industry saw 27,000 jobs cut. The losses in agriculture were concentrated in soybean and sugarcane cultivation, while industry layoffs primarily affected raw sugar manufacturing. Construction declines mainly impacted road, rail, and building sectors.
Geographically, out of 27 federative units, 20 had positive job balances. São Paulo led with 31,100 new jobs, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 19,900 and Pernambuco with 9,000. Minas Gerais and Goiás reported the highest job losses, losing 8,700 and 8,400 jobs, respectively.
Labor Minister Luiz Marinho attributed the cooling labor market partly to Brazil's high basic interest rate of 15% annually. Despite economists forecasting around 75,000 new jobs, November's performance at nearly 85,900 slightly exceeded expectations but underscored the year's overall labor market downturn.
The labor market's weakening trend suggests growing challenges ahead, especially amid economic deceleration and tight monetary conditions. With job creation shrinking compared to last year, Brazil faces a crucial period for employment policies and economic recovery initiatives.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
