Lula criticizes spending on gambling and defends productive debt.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) took advantage of the release of employment data from RAIS (Annual Social Information Report), on Thursday (August 13), to criticize spending on sports betting and gambling. His participation was an exception in the PT leader's agenda, as he rarely attends ministerial disclosure events.
The event took place in the auditorium of the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), according to Folha de S.Paulo. In his speech, Lula said he was not against personal debt per se, but argued that debt should have a productive purpose. The president directed his criticism at the bets on the eve of the start of the election period.
Critique of betting
Lula stated that "the misfortune of gambling is that you spend your whole life gambling to pay off the losses from the first game you played. So if we work to help society think economically, we will contribute to people continuing to take on healthy debt."
The president also stated that “I am not against people who are in debt. I am against people who are in debt because of debt that does not have the objective of improving their quality of life.” He then added: “What we need is to educate people to spend only what they can afford and what is within their means.”
Since the start of the electoral restrictions, Lula has increased the frequency of closed events. After the event at the Ministry of Labor, the president went to the street to greet supporters who were waiting for him at the ministry's door.
Employment data and charges to the Senate
The Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, also participated in the event. He criticized the practice of hiring workers as independent contractors (pejotização) and urged the President of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), to vote on the proposal to eliminate the 6x1 work schedule. “There is the 6x1 schedule that the Senate is sitting on, and we really need President Alcolumbre to release this agenda item for the senators to vote for or against. Vote according to your conscience, but vote. Let it proceed, let the debate run its course. Society has already spoken,” said Marinho.
Data released at the event shows that the country accumulated a positive balance of 10,1 million jobs between January 2023 and June 2026, according to RAIS (Annual Social Information Report). Of this total, 5,35 million correspond to formal employment contracts in the private sector; the other 4,75 million are in the public sector.
By sector, the largest growth was in services, with a 42% increase compared to 2023. Agriculture registered the smallest increase among the listed sectors, with a 5% rise in the same period. By region, the North and Central-West led the variations, with growth of 34,7% and 28,6%, respectively.
In 2025, Brazil ended the year with a stock of 59,9 million formal jobs, a 5% increase compared to 2024 and an addition of 2,8 million jobs. Those under the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) accounted for the largest share, with 46,1 million, followed by statutory employees in the public sector, with 12,6 million. The municipal sector registered the largest variation among the legal categories, at 18,2%.
In the accumulated period from January to June 2026, RAIS (Annual Social Information Report) registered a variation of only 2,6%. CAGED (General Registry of Employed and Unemployed Workers) also showed, in the April-June quarter, the worst results since 2020, the year of the pandemic.
