Brazilian government statistics from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) show that Brazil’s benchmark IPCA, consumer price index, rose 0.43% in October from September, slightly above expectations.
The agency said the data was released a day ahead of schedule due to a failure in its publishing system.
The data pointed to inflation slowing to 6.97% in the 12 months through October from 7.31% in the 12 months through September, analysts said. That is still above the 2.5% to 6.5% range targeted for annual inflation by the central bank. Inflation gained to 5.43% in the first 10 months of the year.
The slowdown from September’s rise of 0.53% could be a relief for policymakers, with Central Bank President Alexandre Tombini predicting for months that annual inflation would slow starting in October.
The yield on the interest rate future contract due in January 2013 – a gauge for expectations on the level of the benchmark overnight Selic rate at the end of 2012 – was little changed on Thursday.
The yield on the contract, among the most widely traded in São Paulo, fell 1 basis point to 9.99% from 10% on Wednesday.
The agency also said that the number of workers employed by Brazil’s industrial sector fell 1.4% in September.
