Manufacturing helps Brazil's Sept. job creation rebound

Economy added 150,334 jobs last month

BRAZIL (Reuters) — Manufacturing led a recovery in payroll job creation in Brazil last month, labour ministry data showed, the latest sign that Latin America's largest economy is finally gaining traction after a year-long slowdown.

Factories, farmers and retailers added a net 150,334 payroll jobs in September, the ministry said. The number was slightly below analysts' median forecast of 154,000 jobs, but well above the 100,938 posted in August.

Brazil's $2.5 trillion economy is bouncing back following one year of near stagnation. President Dilma Rousseff's government has awarded tax incentives to dozens of industries and billions of dollars in cheap loans to bolster activity.

Unlike most previous months this year, manufacturing industries added most of new jobs to the economy in September. The sector added 66,191 new jobs that month, in what could signal that struggling manufacturing is finally improving.

The service industry added 55,221 jobs last month and commerce added 35,919 jobs. Agriculture was the only sector that lost jobs in September, shedding 19,014 positions.

The pace of payroll job creation in Brazil has slowed since 2011, but remains robust, preventing the economy from falling into recession, analysts say. Until last month, making up for a struggling industry and unstable farming sector, companies in the services sector had created the majority of new payroll positions in Brazil.

Yet the number of overall jobs created in September was the lowest for the month since at least 2003.

In the first 10 months of the year, job creation rose 4.15 per cent to 1.6 million from the same period the previous year, according to labour ministry data.

Latest stories