LatinNews Daily - 25 June 2026

*Brazil’s labour ministry has released new data showing that formal employment in February totalled 62.2m people. This marks a 3.6% increase compared to the number of formally employed people in February 2025. The total number of formally employed workers in February this year who enjoy benefits under the country’s ‘Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho’ (CLT) labour rights framework stood at 47.97m, up 2.22% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the total number of public sector workers, contractors, and appointees, who are subject to different labour regulations and employee benefits, stood at 13.82m, up 8.58% compared to February last year. Regarding working hours, the government figures showed that 37.11m formally employed people worked 41 hours per week, 9.24m worked 31-40 hours, 2.16m worked 21-30 hours, and 1.81m worked up to 20 hours per week. The current maximum working week under Brazilian law is 44 hours, but the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is pushing for reforms to shorten the working week, supporting legislation to reduce the maximum limit to 40 hours.

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