Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that the country is "returning to normal" following the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic. In an online post on Friday, Bolsonaro, who had tested positive for the virus last month, said that 131,010 formal jobs were created in July, the first positive result since March, reports Xinhua news agency.

"In July 2020, the country presented a positive balance of 131,010 new jobs. The great highlight was the processing industry, especially the manufacturing of food products and civil construction. "Brazil is returning to normal," he added. The government has predicted that the labour market will continue to present positive data in the coming months. "The positive result of July is certainly the first of many," said Bruno Bianco, the special secretary of Social Security and Labour at the Ministry of Economy.

"There is a successive and significant improvement in the employment record and everything indicates that it will continue to be positive, and even more positive. "We are seeing sectors improving and staying afloat, which is important for economic recovery. Improvement has certainly only just started and we will continue to surprise," he said. The labour market has been hit hard by the pandemic, and in the first seven months of this year, Brazil reported 8.91 million layoffs.

Brazil currently accounts for the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths, just after the US. As of Saturday, the total number of cases in the country stood at 3,532,330, while the death toll increased to 113,358. It is also the country with the maximum amount of infections and fatalities in Latin America.

Sao Paulo, the most populated state in the country and the epicentre of the pandemic, has registered over 736,000 confirmed cases and 28,155 deaths, followed by Bahia, Ceara and Rio de Janeiro.