Data released by the General Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons (Caged), of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, shows that 165,827 jobs with a formal contract were opened in August. The indicator measures the difference between hiring and firing.
The balance is 183.1% higher than in July, when the country created 58,568 jobs.
Job creation rose 7.2% compared to August last year, pressured by high interest rates and the economic slowdown. In the same month of 2025, 154,683 jobs had been created, in adjusted data, which considers declarations submitted late by employers.
In relation to the months of August since 2020, however, this is the second lowest result in the series, second only to the same month last year. The change in methodology in Caged prevents comparison with years prior to 2020.
Accumulated
From January to August, Caged recorded a 25.2% drop in the number of formal vacancies:
• 1,134,033 (eight months of 2026);
• 1,516,881 (eight 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, all five sectors surveyed created formal jobs in August.
• Services: +110,346 stations;
• Civil construction: +20,848;
• Industry (processing, extraction and other types): +16,613;
• Commerce: +16,565;
• Agriculture: +1,452;
Traditionally, the month of August is weak for agriculture, due to the start of planting. However, it marks the peak of industrial activity, with factories starting to produce for Christmas.
Highlights
In services, job creation was driven by the education segment, with the opening of 25,416 formal positions. The human health and social services category opened 19,142 vacancies. The transport, storage and mail sector created 16,819 jobs.
In civil construction, the positive highlight was the segment of specialized services for construction, which opened 8,415 formal jobs. In second come infrastructure works, with 7,396 jobs.
In industry, the biggest job generator was the manufacturing of food products, with 10,171 vacancies, followed by the manufacturing of motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (+3,311) and the manufacturing of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (+2,845).
Regions and states
All five regions registered formal vacancies opening in August.
• Southeast: +73,167 jobs;
• Northeast: +59,356;
• North: +13,603;
• South: +10,850;
• Midwest: +8,699.
In the division by Federation units, 24 recorded a positive balance and three fired more than they hired. The highlights in job creation were in São Paulo (+42,533), Rio de Janeiro (+20,886) and Pernambuco (+13,428).
The Federation units that eliminated formal jobs in August were Rio Grande do Sul (-1,611), Rondônia (-923) and Espírito Santo (-287).
According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, in Espírito Santo, the layoffs result from the end of the coffee harvest. In Rondônia, they are related to the food industry. In Rio Grande do Sul, they concentrated on the tobacco industry and commerce.
Average admission salary
The real average salary for admission in August totaled R$2,410.74. This represents:
• reduction of R$0.74 (-0.03%) in relation to July (R$2,411.48);
• increase of R$24.31 (+1.02%) compared to August 2025 (R$2,386.43).
Signed portfolio
With the creation of formal jobs, the number of workers with a formal contract ended August at 48,244,696, an increase of 1% compared to July and 1.02% compared to the same month last year.
