Brazil closes out 2025 with 5% rise in payrolls
Brazil ended 2025 with a five percent increase in formal jobs compared to 2024. The country closed out last year with 59.971 million workers in formal employment.
The data can be found in a yearly study published Wednesday (May 13) by the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
“We recently reported the lowest unemployment rate in history. We’re in a good place, despite high interest. We’re on the right track. We could be in an even better situation if it weren’t for the current interest rates,” said Minister of Labor and Employment Luiz Marinho while presenting the figures.
The main sector responsible for job growth was services, with 35.695 million jobs – a 7.2 percent increase compared to 2024. Next come commerce, with 1.7 percent growth and 10.487 million jobs, and industry, with 9.017 million jobs and 1.7 percent growth.
Despite the rise in the number of jobs, the survey shows there was a slight decline in average wages – 0.5 percent on the same comparison, reaching BRL 4,434.38 in 2025.
According to the data, the number of establishments with employees rose from 4.7 million to 4.8 million, up 2.1 percent.
The distribution of formal employment remained concentrated in the Southeast (47.4%), followed by the Northeast (19.5%) and the South (16.8%).
