Small Enterprises Drive 75% of Formal Job Creation in Ceará and Lead National Growth in Brazil
Micro and small enterprises in Ceará generated over 75% of the state's formal jobs created year-to-date, mirroring their national contribution to Brazil’s formal job growth in 2025.
- • Micro and Small Enterprises (MPEs) created 75.26% of formal jobs in Ceará from January to August 2025.
- • Services sector was the main driver in formal employment growth in Ceará and nationwide.
- • MPEs contributed 982,900 formal job contracts in Brazil in the first eight months of 2025, representing 65.44% of total jobs.
- • In August alone, 84.5% of formal jobs created nationally were from micro and small enterprises.
Key details
Between January and August 2025, Micro and Small Enterprises (MPEs) in Ceará were responsible for an impressive 75.26% of the formal jobs created in the state, generating 30,496 out of 40,518 new positions, according to data from Sebrae based on the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged). The Services sector led employment growth in Ceará, accounting for 13,501 new hires, followed by Construction with 10,056 jobs, the Transformation Industry with 3,084, and Commerce with 2,880 jobs. In August alone, MPEs created 4,970 new jobs, representing 71.68% of the total formal employment growth in Ceará that month.
On the national level, MPEs contributed to 982,900 new formal job contracts between January and August 2025. This figure corresponds to 65.44% of the roughly 1.5 million formal jobs created in Brazil during the same period. August’s data indicates that 84.5% of formal job creation—approximately 147,300 jobs—came from micro and small enterprises, with small businesses alone accounting for 124,400 of these. The Services sector dominated again nationwide with 62,500 new hires, followed by Commerce (30,300) and Construction (21,000).
The Caged registry, instituted by Law No. 4,923 in 1965 and enhanced by the eSocial system, remains a critical tool for tracking formal employment trends in Brazil, underscoring the pivotal role of small enterprises in labor market expansion.
These figures highlight the essential contribution of micro and small businesses in fostering formal employment both regionally in Ceará and across Brazil, reinforcing their significance in the country’s economic fabric amid 2025's labor dynamics.