Brazilian industrial production hits six-month skid

Brazil’s industrial production fell 0.2 percent in November last year compared to October, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). This is the sixth monthly decrease in a row for the sector, coming as yet another sign of Brazil’s economic fragility in Q4 2021.

Domestic industry is now 4.3 percent below pre-pandemic levels recorded in February 2020. In addition, the indicator came in below market expectations. Bloomberg analysts had predicted a 0.1-percent rise in industrial production. Compared to November 2020, factory production fell 4.4 percent, while Bloomberg expected contraction of just 4.1 percent. On a year-to-date basis until November, Brazilian industry rose 4.7 percent.

“When we look at the previous year, the results throughout 2021 are almost always positive, as the basis for comparison is low, because industry stopped at the beginning of the pandemic and 2020 ended with a 4.5-percent setback. However, analyzing month by month, we see that nine out of the 11 monthly results from 2021 were negative,” said André Macedo, responsible for the survey.

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