Rio de Janeiro, Sep 17 (IANS/EFE) The Brazilian government said it has created 1.95 million new jobs until August this year, almost double the number of last year.

Labour Minister Carlos Lupi said 2.5 million new jobs will be created this year in Brazil, more than in the last two years combined.

A total of 299,415 new jobs were created in August alone.

This year’s increase in employment helped bring Brazil’s unemployment rate down to 6.9 percent in July, the lowest level for that month since 2002.