Brasília, 1/28/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In 2002, a total of 762,414 jobs were created on the formal economy (workers who are on the books and receive worker benefits), an increase of 171,335 over 2001.

However, the Ministry of Labor reports that in December there was a drop of 1.12% in formal economy jobs, a reduction of 249,514. That was slightly higher than in December 2001, when 253,293 jobs ceased to exist. (AB)