Formal job slowdown shifts hiring balance toward women
Janaína Feijó
Divulgação
Women accounted for the largest share of net formal job creation in the first five months of 2026, surpassing men, according to data from the New General Register of Employed and Unemployed Workers (Novo Caged). Between January and May, women gained 418,000 net jobs, compared with 349,000 for men. Economists link the shift to a slowing labor market and tighter monetary policy.
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During the same period last year, net job creation was higher for both genders. Women gained 521,000 net positions, while men gained 545,000. In 2024, the figures were 509,000 for women and 596,000 for men.
Janaína Feijó, an applied economics researcher at FGV Ibre, described women’s lead in net job creation as “artificial.” She said that men led job creation through 2025. As the labor market slowed, however, net job creation declined in industry by 39.10% and in commerce by 142%—sectors with greater male participation—while the more female-dominated service sector recorded a smaller decline of 13.40%.
The impact on male workers “was so strong that, for the first time, it caused women’s net job creation to surpass men’s,” she said. “Even the figure for women has been declining compared with 2025. So, in comparison with men, the situation improved and inequality narrowed, but for a bad reason: the labor-market slowdown,” Feijó noted.
Similarly, Bruno Imaizumi, an economist at 4Intelligence, said industry and construction, which employ predominantly men, are more affected by tight monetary policy. Meanwhile, occupations held primarily by women in health care, education, and administrative functions—areas more closely associated with the service sector—are growing for other reasons, including increased public-sector hiring. Imaizumi also said women have led men in cumulative net job creation over 12 months since October 2024.
Feijó expects the slowdown observed in the first half of the year to continue over the next six months. She believes El Niño will affect Brazilian agriculture, potentially spilling over into other sectors of the economy.
Given this outlook, Feijó said net job creation may continue to decline in sectors that traditionally employ more men, contributing to a further narrowing of labor-market inequality between men and women.
The results by age and education level also reveal the composition of the jobs created through May. Men accounted for the largest net gains among younger workers. Men age 17 or younger gained 90,600 net jobs, compared with 82,900 for women in the same age group. Men also led among workers ages 18 to 24, with a net gain of 263,900 positions, compared with 212,300 for women.
Women led net job creation beginning at age 25. Among workers ages 40 to 49, women recorded a net gain of 54,400 jobs, compared with 12,300 for men. Women also performed better among workers age 50 or older, while men recorded net job losses.
In 2026, more highly educated women also drove the positive results. Through May, women with college degrees gained 66,400 net jobs, more than five times the 11,800 recorded among men with the same education level.
Results were more balanced among workers who had completed high school, with men gaining 284,100 net jobs and women 283,600. Among groups with less education, including those who had completed elementary education or had not finished high school, men continued to lead job creation.
Feijó emphasized the importance of education in gaining access to the labor market. Average educational attainment has increased for both genders over the past 20 years, but the improvement has been more pronounced among women.
“Today, the share of employed women with college degrees is much larger than the share among men. Although women are more highly educated and can secure these positions, a pay disparity remains. It is as though women need to be overqualified just to enter the labor market and try to negotiate pay on equal terms. They cannot stop pursuing qualifications because otherwise the labor market becomes extremely restrictive for them,” she said.
Translation: Todd Harkin
