With 1,043,650 new hires and 912,640 dismissals, the job additions interrupted the negative sequence that has been observed since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the country.

The manufacturing industry led the job creation with a positive balance of 53,590 in July, followed by the construction sector with 41,986 jobs, and commerce with 28,383 jobs, said the statement, adding that the total number of formal jobs in the country reached 37,717,045.

According to the ministry, the positive result shows that the Emergency Income and Employment Preservation program, which provides monthly benefits to workers whose income was suspended or reduced, has been successful in preventing layoffs.

To date, the program has disbursed around 23.2 billion reais (about 4.1 billion U.S. dollars), said the ministry.