Brazil Industry Turnover Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Period, Says National Confederation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The real turnover of the Brazilian processing industry has exceeded the pre-pandemic level of the start of the year, and industrial activity maintained growth in August.

The data are based on the Industrial Indicators research study, released Tuesday, October 6th, by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).

According to the survey, the turnover has increased 2,3 percent compared to July and 37,8 percent over April, the worst month of the crisis in the sector triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, according to the organization, given the sharp drop in March and April, the cumulative turnover for the year is 3.9 percent below that recorded over the same period in 2019.

August was the first month of industrial employment growth in 2020, with a 1.9 percent increase. According to CNI, with this result, the level of employment is now close to the pre-crisis level.

The hours worked increased by 2.9 percent between July and August and accumulated growth of 25.1 percent compared to April. In this case, it has not yet returned to the pre-crisis level.

Recovery

The organization’s assessment is that the numbers reinforce the perception of a V-shaped recovery in industrial activity, which has been matched by employment growth, suggesting greater confidence among entrepreneurs.

V-shaped recovery is a term used by economists to report a sharp rise back to a previous peak after a sharp decline in economic activity.

Installed Capacity Utilization (ICU) in August reached 78.1 percent and is 0.8 percentage point lower than in February this year.

Moreover, the wage bill recorded an increase of 4.5 percent in August compared to July. According to the CNI, the growth has more than offset the drop of the preceding month, but the indicator is still far from the pre-pandemic level as some companies are still adopting contract suspension or working hours reduction.

According to the survey, in line with the wage bill trend, the real average income paid to workers grew by 2.8 percent in August compared to July, after seasonal adjustment.

In this case, the average income is also affected by collective bargaining agreements to reduce working hours or suspend contracts, and is far from the pre-pandemic reality. When compared to August 2019, the drop is of 2.2 percent.

Source: InfoMoney

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