UPDATE 1-Brazil beats forecasts with more than 277,000 net formal jobs created in May

(Adds employment and economic details)

BRASILIA, June 28 (Reuters) - Brazil created a net 277,018 formal jobs in May, Labor Ministry figures showed on Tuesday, above market expectations, but workers' pay has declined.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 192,750 jobs created in the month.

According to the ministry, the average monthly salary of new jobs created in May decreased 0.94% from April to 1,898 reais ($363.59), after having posted a gain in the previous month.

Job openings happened across the board, led by the service sector, which alone created 120,294 new jobs, recovering from the blow suffered from the coronavirus pandemic.

In the five months to May, 1.052 million jobs were created, slightly below the positive balance of 1.161 million in the same period last year, showed the government series with adjusted data.

The total number of formally registered workers in Brazil grew 0.67% in May from the previous month to 41.7 million.

Figures do not include nearly 40 million undocumented workers, who do not have formal employment registration. ($1 = 5.2201 reais) (Reporting by Marcela Ayres in Brasilia Editing by Matthew Lewis)