São Paulo and São José dos Campos report significant employment growth

The state of São Paulo reached a historic employment peak in 2025, with 24.7 million occupied workers, representing approximately 24% of the total workforce in Brazil. According to data from Fundação Seade and IBGE, the state's industrial sector employs 3.8 million people, accounting for nearly 30% of Brazil's industrial occupation. Other significant sectors include commerce and vehicle repair with 4.49 million workers, and public administration, education, health, and social services with 4.1 million.

In the municipality of São José dos Campos, the labor market showed consistent growth, recording its eighth consecutive month of positive job creation. In August 2026, the city added 1,055 formal jobs, bringing the total new positions for the period of January to August 2026 to 3,792. The services sector led this growth with 838 new jobs, followed by industry with 275 and construction with 32. Conversely, the commerce and agriculture sectors saw slight decreases in formal employment.