Brazil: Economic activity normalizes in July after truckers’ strike
In July, economic activity increased 0.6% from the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms, according to the Central Bank’s monthly indicator for economic activity (IBC-Br, Indice de Atividade Economica do Banco Central). The result was below June’s all-time high of 3.4%, which was distorted by the effects of a nationwide truckers’ strike that took place in May and early June. July’s result marked a return to normalization for the Brazilian economy and beat market expectations of a 0.2% increase.
On an annual basis, economic activity grew 2.6%, above June’s 1.9%. Annual average growth in economic activity rose to 1.5% in July from 1.3% in June.