© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A waiter serves customers at a bar after gyms, restaurants and beach sports facilities reopen as the city eases restrictions, amid the outbreak due to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 2, 2020 .REUTERS/S
By Camila Moreira and Rodrigo Viga Gaier
SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Service activity in Brazil grew more than expected in December and hit its highest level so far, ending 2022 with gains for the second straight year after. economic downturn of the pandemic.
Statistics agency IBGE said the sector grew 3.1% in December from the previous month. The results ended two months of declines and were much higher than expectations in a Reuters poll that predicted a 1.0% gain.
The services sector closed 2022 with a cumulative increase of 8.3% and is now 14.4% higher than the February 2020 level, before the pandemic. It also hit a record high in the historical series, which began in 2011.
On an annualized basis, service activity in Latin America’s largest economy grew 6.0% in December, IBGE added, also beating economists’ forecasts of 3.9%.
Services experienced a bout of growth last year as the economy reopened following the COVID-19 pandemic, but that momentum is likely to die off as the impact of monetary tightening becomes heavy than.
Claudia Moreno, economist at C6 Bank, said: “In 2022, services show better resilience than trade and manufacturing, which have already suffered the negative effects of high interest rates. and the global recession”.
“Like other economic sectors, services will also start to feel the lagging effects of higher interest rates and the global recession more strongly. So in the future, we’ll see services flat or even shrink”.
IBGE highlights the transport sector’s performance in December increased by 2.5% month-on-month, which is also the highlight for the full year 2022, with cumulative growth in service volumes of 13, 3%.
Research director Luiz said: “The transport industry has evolved since 2020, but with different dynamics: initially due to logistics, with the rise of alternative delivery services for direct purchases; now also supported by freight and tourism”. Almeida.
