Industrial sales in Brazil had an increase at the end of 2006. Real industrial sales rose 2.92% in December when compared to November, in a series that discards seasonal influences.
This was the greatest monthly expansion since August 2006, according to research Industrial Indices, disclosed today, January 5, by the CNI (National Confederation of Industries).
In comparison to the third quarter of 2005, industrial sales rose 3.92% and in comparison to December 2005, the expansion was 1.93%.
Industrial sales also grew 2.92% in December, discarding seasonal effects. In comparison to December 2005, the growth was 1.72%. According to the study, the increase is due to the growth of domestic income, the expansion of credit and the stability of exchange rates.
Hours worked in production in December reduced 0.69% when compared to November. Historically, the index has always presented an expressive reduction in December, according to the report.
The level of employment also suffered a slight retraction in December, 0.04%, after five months of growth. According to the study, in 2006 industrial employment rose 2.21%, less than half that observed in the previous year, when the level expanded 5.23%.
Brazilian industries operate with 80.3% of their installed capacity, discounting the seasonal effect. In the average for the year, the index for use of the installed capacity was 81.8%. The monthly research is based on 3,000 medium and large companies in 12 Brazilian states.