LatinNews Daily - 31 January 2024

*Brazil’s labour ministry has released the latest figures from its national employment registry (Novo Caged) which showed a net job loss of 430,159 jobs in December 2023, with 1.93m dismissals and 1.50m new hires. In December, all five job categories measured showed net losses, mainly driven by the services sector registering a net loss of 181,913 jobs and general industry losing a net 111,006 jobs. The accumulated figures for 2023, on the other hand, showed 1.48m new jobs created, with 23.26m new hires and 21.77m dismissals. December was the only month of 2023 to register a negative figure, although the monthly net job creation figure had been decreasing every month since August. All five categories saw a net positive figure for the year, with services (+886,256 new jobs) registering the highest job creation. According to a government press release, the rise in services jobs was mainly driven by information, communication, and financial activities (+380,752) and public administration, defence, social security, education, healthcare, and social services (+204,859).