MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil industrial output rose 8% in July, much stronger than expected

Figures tie in with other indicators showing industry and manufacturing are recovering far more rapidly than the dominant services sector

Industrial output in Brazil rose 8% in July, figures released this week showed, much stronger than economists had expected as the sector continued to pick up after shuddering to a standstill early this year due to strict coronavirus-linked lockdowns.

The figures tie in with other indicators that show industry and manufacturing are recovering far more rapidly than the dominant services sector, although the latest report shows industry is still weaker than it was pre-crisis.

The May and June increases were revised up to 8.7% and 9.7%, respectively.

Government statistics agency IBGE said the year-on-year decline was 3%

Among the 26 sectors surveyed, a record 25 registered an increase in production, notably a 43.9% surge in auto and auto parts output. The sector has grown more than seven-fold in the last three months, but is still a third smaller than it was pre-crisis in February, IBGE said.

Capital goods production rose 15% on the month, durable goods output jumped 42%, and consumer goods rose 9.3%, IBGE said.

Industrial output is still down 9.6% in the first seven months of this year, IBGE said.