Finance minister Guido Mantega said this week that the Brazilian economy has been growing with 'redoubled vigour' since the international financial crisis and is on course to generate 2 million new jobs during 2010 – an increase in employment of 6.5%.

Almost a million new jobs were created between January and April. Longer-term forecasts suggest employment will continue to grow by an average of over 5% in the next few years.

In proportion to the size of the economy Brazil’s rate of job creation has been the highest in the world, Mantega said.

He also predicted that the average rate of unemployment during 2010 will have been the lowest since records began. It currently stands at 6.8%.

Mantega noted that Brazil's rapid growth has not led to inflation or balance-of-payments problems, unlike in the past. Nor, he predicted, will it cause any 'bottlenecks' in terms of infrastructure or energy generation.

Source: Agência Brasil and Embassy of Brazil in London