Brazil created a record number of payroll jobs for the month of August in a sign that its economy is growing at a solid pace.

Latin America's largest economy added a net 299,415 payroll jobs BRPROL=ECI last month, the Labor Ministry said on Thursday, the eighth straight month of increases.

Job creation for September, October and November should also reach a record, said Labor Minister Carlos Lupi.

(The number is) very strong. It came above what everyone had expected, Bernardo Wjuniski, an analyst at Tendencias consultancy in Sao Paulo said. The labor market continues very heated.

The numbers come as expectations for growth this year and bets on inflation for 2011 continue to rise, even as the central bank has sounded dovish in recent months and looks poised to keep interest rates steady at 10.75 percent for some time.

The economy created 1.95 million jobs so far this year, according to the ministry, with Lupi reiterating 2.5 million jobs will have been created by December.

Brazil has proven a global bright spot this year, with the economy growing at a brisk pace even as more developed nations struggle with an uneven recovery.

But despite stronger-than-expected growth in the second quarter, the central bank ended its monetary tightening cycle this month, citing a benign inflation outlook.

Analysts in a weekly central bank survey have since increased their expectations for 2010 growth to 7.42 from 7.34 percent in the latest weekly central bank survey, and raised their bets for 2011 inflation to 4.9 from 4.85 percent.

The government has an inflation target of 4.5 percent, plus or minus 2 percentage points.

While inflation pressures remain under control, some analysts worry about future price pressures.

The central bank is going to have to be a little more vigilant, said Ures Folchini at the Treasury desk at WestLB.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made it a priority to increase payroll jobs. Most of Brazil's workforce is not registered with the Labor Ministry and belongs to a vast informal economy. (Reporting by Isabel Versiani; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Inflation