Brazil: Services sector improves at a slower pace in April
The S&P Global Brazil Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 53.7 in April from 54.8 in March. As a result, the index remained above the 50.0 no-change threshold, but signaled a softer improvement in services sector business activity compared to the previous month.
April’s moderation was due to output, new orders and employment increasing at slower paces from the prior month. That said, the growth rate of new orders remained robust on resilient demand, and underpinned the second-strongest increase in employment in a year. This marked the seventh consecutive month of job creation, reflecting service providers’ optimism and response to sustained increases in new work intakes. That said, optimism eased to a nine-month low in the month.
Turning to prices, input and labor costs continued to rise, leading to higher overall expenses, although the rate of charge inflation eased to a six-month low, suggesting some firms offered discounts to secure new work.