Brazil: Economic activity beats expectations and grows at strongest rate in 17 months in July
Economic activity growth accelerated to 1.2% month on month in seasonally-adjusted terms in July (June: +0.9% mom). July’s figure marked the best reading since February 2021. The result, took markets by surprise, as they had anticipated a mild 0.3% expansion. The improvement came amid positive developments in the labor market and the measures the government has implemented to support household consumption.
On an annual basis, economic activity rose 3.9% in July, which was better than June’s 3.0% expansion and marking the best result since August 2021. However, the trend continued to worsen, with annual average economic activity growth falling to 2.1% in July (June: +2.2%), which marked an over one-year low.