Credit: REUTERS/PAULO WHITAKERBy Jamie McGeever
BRASILIA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Industrial output in Brazil rose 8.9% in June, figures showed on Tuesday, the second-biggest increase on record as the sector continued to claw back the huge losses from earlier this year when strict coronavirus-linked lockdowns brought production to a virtual standstill.
The figures tie in with other indicators that show industry and manufacturing are recovering far more rapidly than the dominant services sector, although Tuesday's report shows industry is still much weaker than it was pre-crisis.
The 8.9% rise in output in June from May was more than the median estimate in a Reuters poll of economists for a rise of 7.7%.
Government statistics agency IBGE said the year-on-year decline was 9.0%, less than the 10.2% fall forecast in a Reuters poll.
Consumer durable goods production rose 82.2% from May, consumer goods rose 15.9% and capital goods rose 13.1%, IBGE said.
Among the 26 sectors surveyed, 24 registered an increase in production, notably a 70% surge in auto and auto parts output. That meant production of autos and related parts is up almost 500% in two months, but still less than half its pre-crisis level in February.
The bigger picture remains mixed. Industrial production was down 10.9% in the first six months of the year, down 5.6% over the 12 months to June, and down 27.7% from the peak in May 2011, IBGE said.
Survey data suggest the sector's recovery continued into July.
Industrial confidence rose sharply in July, indicating that 74% of the of the March-April decline has now been recovered, while a closely watched purchasing managers index this week showed that manufacturing expanded in July at the fastest pace on record.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
((jamie.mcgeever@thomsonreuters.com; +55 (0)11 97189 3169; Reuters Messaging: jamie.mcgeever.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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