Saturday, January 24, 2009

Brazil posts worst jobs data in a decade


Brazil lost 654,946 jobs last month as a result of the global economic crisis, leading to the worst year for employment in a decade, according to official data published Monday.

In all, 1.5 million formal jobs were created over 2008 - far less than the two million posts that had been projected by the leftwing government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

December's poor result torpedoed relatively good performance for most of the year. The figures turned around after September, when the financial crisis crashed onto markets around the planet.

"It has to do with the strong effect of the crisis," Labor Minister Carlos Lupi told a news conference.

The data from his ministry's General Registry of Employment and Unemployment were released the same day Lula met representatives from five of Brazil's biggest unions looking to prevent mass lay-offs.

Industry was the worst-hit sector, losing 273,000 workers, followed by agriculture, with 134,000 jobs axed, and services, where 117,000 positions were lost.

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