In Brazil, hirings surpass dismissals for first time in four months

Rio De Janeiro, March 19 (Xinhua) Over 9,000 new jobs were created in Brazil in February, the first time hirings surpassed dismissals in the country in four months, the Labour Ministry said Wednesday.

The Brazilian economy registered the creation of 9,179 formal jobs last month, the ministry said citing data released by the National Registry of Employed and Unemployed.

The February figure, which represents the difference between the number of hirings and dismissals, was an improvement from January, when 101,748 jobs were lost in Brazil, but it was lower than the forecast of Labour Minister Carlos Lupi, who had expected 20,000 new jobs to be created in February.

Last month's figure was the worst showing for February since 1999.

It was the first time since November 2008 that the hirings surpassed the dismissals in Brazil. Lupi said the country is slowly recovering from the impact of the global financial crisis.

Lupi said he believed figures would further improve in March, with the creation of 100,000 new jobs. For 2009, Lupi expected 1.5 million new jobs to be created in Brazil.

In the March 2008 to February 2009 period, 1 million new jobs were created in the country.