Brazil creates 121.3 thousand jobs in September, points out Caged

Data from the General Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons (Caged), from the Ministry of Labor and Employment, released this Wednesday (4), show that 121.3 thousand formal jobs were opened in September. The indicator measures the difference between hiring and firing.

The balance is 24.7% higher compared to August, when the country created 161 thousand jobs.

Job creation fell 43.5% compared to September last year, pressured by high interest rates and the economic slowdown. In the same month of 2025, 214.6 thousand jobs had been created, in adjusted data, which considers declarations submitted late by employers.

In relation to the months of September since 2020, this is the lowest result in the series. The change in methodology in Caged prevents comparison with years prior to 2020.

Accumulated

From January to September, Caged recorded a 27.9% drop in the number of formal vacancies:

1,248,914 (nine months of 2026);

1,731,398 (nine months of 2025).

The data brings adjustments, when the Ministry of Labor records declarations submitted after the deadline by employers and rectifies data from previous months.

Sectors

In the division by field of activity, four of the five sectors surveyed created formal jobs in September. Only agriculture fired more than it hired.

Services: 81,241 positions;

Industry (processing, extraction and other types): 19,285;

Commerce: 15,697;

Civil construction: 9,468;

Agriculture: -4,381.

Traditionally, the month of September is weak for agriculture, due to the beginning of planting. However, it represents an increase in industrial activity, with factories starting to produce for Christmas.

Highlights

In services, job creation was driven by the segment of administrative activities and complementary services, with the opening of 18.3 thousand formal positions. The human health and social services category opened 15,400 vacancies. The transport, storage and mail sector created 13.2 thousand jobs.

In industry, the positive highlight was the segment of specialized services for the manufacture of food products (17 thousand), manufacture of motor vehicles (2.1 thousand) and collection, treatment, disposal of waste and recovery of materials (1.48 thousand).

In commerce, the biggest generator of jobs was retail trade (9.43 thousand), followed by wholesale trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles (3.87 thousand.

In construction, the highlights were infrastructure works (4.66 thousand) and specialized services for construction (3.9 thousand).

Regions and states

All five regions registered formal vacancies in September.

See below the performance of each region:

Northeast: 49,142 positions;

Southeast: 39,404;

North: 14,748;

South: 9,949;

Midwest: 7,894.

In the division by Federation units, 26 registered a positive balance. Only Rio Grande do Sul fired 2.9 thousand more than it hired. The highlights in job creation were in São Paulo (19.3 thousand), Pernambuco (13.3 thousand) and Alagoas (11.1 thousand).

The Federation units with the lowest balance of formal job openings in September were Acre (235), Goías (307) and Maranhão (654).

According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, in Rio Grande do Sul, the layoffs result from the end of the tobacco harvest and the downturn in retail trade.

Average salary

The real average salary for admission in September totaled R$2,429.41. This represents:

reduction of R$ 1.10 (-0.05%) compared to August (R$ 2,430.51);

increase of R$44.90 (1.88%) compared to September 2025 (R$2,384.51).

Signed portfolio

With the creation of formal jobs, the number of workers with a formal contract ended September at 48.35 million, an increase of 0.25% compared to August and 1.65% compared to the same month last year.