Pressured by high interest and due to the slowdown in the economy, the creation of formal jobs fell in Brazil in 2025. Data released by the General Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons (Caged), of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, indicate that 1,279,498 formal jobs were opened last year.
The indicator measures the difference between hiring and firing. The balance is 23.73% lower compared to 2024, when the country had created 1,677,575 jobs. The data brings adjustments, when the Ministry of Labor records declarations submitted after the deadline by employers and rectifies data from previous months.
December
In December alone, a month traditionally marked by layoffs, 618,164 jobs were eliminated, 11.29% more compared to the same month in 2024. In the same month of the previous year, 555,430 had been closed.
In relation to the months of December, the total was the worst since December 2020, when 156,243 vacancies were eliminated. The change in the Caged methodology does not make comparisons with years prior to 2020 possible.
>> Follow the channel Brazil Agency on WhatsApp
Sectors
Even with the drop in December, in the division by field of activity, all five sectors surveyed created formal jobs in 2025.
- Services: 758,355 positions;
- Commerce: 247,097;
- Industry (processing, extraction and other types): 144,319;
- Civil construction: 87,878;
- Agriculture: 41,870.
Highlights
In services, job creation was driven by the segment of information, communication and financial, real estate, professional and administrative activities, with the opening of 318,460 formal positions. The category of public administration, defense and social security, education, human health and social services opened 194,903 vacancies.
In industry, the positive highlight was the manufacturing industry, which hired 114,127 more workers than it fired. In second place was the water, sewage, waste management and decontamination activities segment, which opened 14,346 vacancies. The extractive industry opened 9,554 jobs in September
Regions and states
All five regions registered formal vacancies opening last year.
>> See below the performance of each region:
- Southeast: 504,972 positions;
- Northeast: 347,940;
- South: 186,126;
- Midwest: 149,530;
- North: 90,613.
In the division by Federation units, all registered a positive balance in 2025. The highlights in job creation were São Paulo (+311,228 jobs); Rio de Janeiro (+100,920) and Bahia (+94,380).
The lowest balances of job creation were recorded in Tocantins (+7,416 jobs); Acre (+5,058) and Roraima (+2,568).
