Brazil sheds more jobs than expected in February as recession bites

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Factories, farms and services companies shed a net 104,582 payroll jobs in February, the latest evidence of massive job destruction caused by the country's worst recession in decades.

According a Labor Ministry report on Tuesday, the result was the worst for any month of February in the past 24 years. The ministry began collecting data on so-called payroll job registrations since 1992.

Economists surveyed by Reuters expected the economy to have a net median 41,000 job dismissals last month. It was the eleventh consecutive month of job losses in Brazil, according to the report, commonly known as CAGED.

(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)