Brazil loses over 860 thousand formal jobs in April

Layoffs in Brazil surpassed formal admissions by 860,503 job posts in April—1,459,099 dismissals and 589,596 admissions. The figures in the General Register of Employed and Unemployed (CAGED) were published Wednesday (27). April’s balance was the worst in the time series started in 1992.

The figures are said to indicate that the plunge in admissions contributed significantly to the negative balance in formal jobs.

While layoffs were up 17.2 percent, admissions sank 56.5 percent compared to April 2019.

Bruno Branco, special secretary for Social Security and Labor with the Economy Ministry, said the result shows the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Brazilian economy.

“It’s a harsh number, which reflects the reality of the pandemic we’re facing, but it brings with it something positive. It shows that Brazil is managing to preserve employment and income. However, for the same reasons stemming from the pandemic, we haven’t been able to maintain the admissions from before,” he declared.

Despite the result, Bianco said, Brazil is in a better situation than that facing other countries. “The US have over 35 million applying for unemployment benefits, and Brazil is nearing 860,500 jobless people. This shows the effectiveness of the measures carried out by the government.”

In March, when social distancing efforts started due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the balance of formal employment stood at a negative 207,401—1,316,655 admissions and 1,524,056 dismissals.

From January to April 2020, the country saw 4,999,981 admissions and 5.763.213 layoffs—a negative 763,232. Admissions declined 9.6 percent and dismissals went up 10.5 percent in the period, compared to the first four months of 2019.

Brazil’s real average salary went from $282.48 in April 2019 to $342.43 last month.