Brazil closed January 2021 with a balance of 260,353 formal jobs, according to the balance sheet of the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (Caged) presented today (16) by the Ministry of Economy. The balance is the best in the historical series for the month of January and is the result of 1,527,083 admissions and 1,266,730 dismissals. The number is also higher than that recorded in December 2020, when the generation of jobs was 142,690 jobs.

As a result, the stock of formal jobs in the country reached 39,623,321 jobs, which represents a 0.66% variation in relation to the stock of the previous month. According to the ministry, labor modernization played an important role in the generation of jobs in January.

“There were 15,600 admissions and 12,517 dismissals in the form of intermittent work, generating a balance of 3,083 jobs, involving 3,784 contracting establishments. A total of 201 employees signed more than one contract as an intermittent worker ”, informed the portfolio.

The ministry also pointed out that the Emergency Employment and Income Maintenance Program has been successful in preventing layoffs, "in such an atypical year of facing a serious pandemic". The program establishes the Emergency Employment and Income Preservation Benefit (BEm), paid to workers who have had their employment contract suspended or their work hours and wages reduced.

The folder informed that the updated data until December 31 show that the benefit allowed 20,119,858 agreements between 9,849,116 employees and 1,464,683 employers in the country.

On the other hand, part-time work had a negative balance of 610 jobs in the year, the result of 15,808 admissions and 16,418 dismissals. The partial regime is one whose duration does not exceed thirty hours per week, without the possibility of additional weekly hours or whose duration does not exceed 26 hours per week, with the possibility of adding up to six additional hours per week.

According to Caged, in January, the movement involved 6,413 contracting establishments and 57 employees entered into more than one part-time contract.

Economic activity 

The figures show that, in the month of January, all groups of economic activities presented a positive balance, with emphasis on the Industry sector, with the generation of 90,431 new formal jobs.

“At the level of subclasses, we can point out the Manufacture of Garments, except for Underwear and Custom Made Clothing, with the largest balance (7,855), most of them in Paraná (3,058). The [subclass] Leather Shoe Manufacture registered the second largest balance (5,762), mainly in Bahia (1,670) and Rio Grande do Sul (1,658) ”, informed the ministry.

Following is the Services sector, which presented the second best balance, with 83,686 formal jobs. Most of them registered in the Information, Communication and Financial Activities, Real Estate, Professional and Administrative groups ”, with 55,896; and Public Administration, Defense and Social Security, Education, Human Health and Social Services ”, with 18,353.

The third highest growth in formal employment came from the Construction sector, with a balance of 43,498 formal jobs, mainly in the subclass Construction of Buildings, with a balance of 16,636 jobs. Also according to the data, Agropecuária also presented a positive balance of 32,986, mainly in the subclasses Cultivo de Maçã (12,222) and Cultivação de Soy (9,194).

The sector most affected by the effects of the pandemic of the new coronavirus, Commerce registered, in January, a positive balance, of 9,848 jobs. The highlights were the subclasses Retail Trade of New Parts and Accessories for Motor Vehicles (3,506) and Retail Trade of Building Materials in General (3,055).

Salary 

For the national territory as a whole, the average admission salary in January this year was R $ 1,760.14. Compared to the previous month, there was a real increase of R $ 20.06 in the average admission salary.

States 

According to Caged, in January 2021, only three of the 27 states did not record positive balances: Alagoas, with 198 fewer jobs (-0.06); Paraíba, with 174 fewer (-0.04) and Rio de Janeiro, with a negative balance of 44 jobs (-0.00).

Among the states that generated the most vacancies, the highlight is São Paulo, with 75,203 new jobs. Santa Catarina, with 32,077, and Rio Grande do Sul, with 27,168, were other states with the greatest generation of formal jobs.

“All five regions of the country had a positive balance in January 2021. The North, with 6,937, generated fewer jobs while the Southeast, with 105,747, reached the best number. The South, on the other hand, was the region where all the states registered similar growth, without major imbalance ”, informed the ministry.