With an unemployment rate at 5.3%, Brazil reaches its highest employment level in history, boosted by the strength of the manufacturing and construction sectors in the last quarter.
The Brazilian labor market is experiencing a period of historic vigor. According to data from Pnad Contínua, released this Tuesday (29) by the IBGE, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3% in the quarter ending in August. This figure represents the lowest level recorded for the period since the start of the historical series in 2012, consolidating a trend of improvement compared to the 5.6% observed in the previous quarter.
In addition to the drop in unemployment, the economic scenario is marked by robust indicators that surpassed the predictions of the Secretariat of Economic Policy (SPE). The country not only expanded the number of jobs but also improved the quality of hiring, reaching unprecedented levels in several fundamental pillars of the Brazilian economy.
Strength in Employment and Strategic Sectors
The employed population jumped to 103.5 million people, an unprecedented milestone in the country. This 0.8% growth in three months was largely driven by strategic sectors of the real economy: manufacturing, which expanded by 2% in the number of workers, and construction, which recorded a significant increase of 4.1%.
Another point worth highlighting is the strengthening of the formal labor market. The number of workers with formal employment contracts (carteira assinada) in the private sector reached a record 39.5 million. This movement is accompanied by an improvement in the social safety net, with a total of 68.5 million contributors to Pension institutes, ensuring greater retirement security for a growing portion of the population.
The record expansion in employment, especially in foundational sectors like manufacturing and construction, signals a phase of solidity in formal job creation, directly reflecting on the wage bill and workers’ social security.
Income and Future Prospects
The average income of Brazilian workers also showed an upward trend, closing the period at R$ 3,777. This data points to a consistent recovery, approaching the historical peak of R$ 3,783 recorded at the beginning of 2026. The combination of more employed people with rising wages reinforces analysts’ optimism about the dynamics of domestic consumption in the coming months.
The next challenge for the economy lies in maintaining this pace of labor absorption in a global scenario of controlled interest rates and inflation. With the workforce protected by social security benefits reaching 66.2% of the total employed, the labor market demonstrates greater resilience to face potential medium-term volatilities.
