Services sector advances 0.9% in May and has third high in four months

Information technology services boosted activity and reached their highest level since January 2011

Driven by information technology and cargo transport services, the service sector advanced 0.9% from April to May, according to data from the Monthly Service Survey released by the IBGE this tuesday. It is the third high in four months, according to the institute. The result came above expectations. Economic analysts had forecast a rise of 0.2% for the month.

Economists estimate that the service sector should follow its recovery trajectory this year, given that it was the sector that suffered the most during the pandemic. But very expressive highs are not on the radar. After the harshest effects of Covid-19 are over, the macroeconomic scenario that combines inflation, rising interest rates and still high unemployment weighs on the sector.

The Services Confidence Index (ICS), from FGV IBRE, rose 0.4 point in June, to 98.7 points, which represents stability. The indicator remains below 100 points, the level indicated as neutral, on a scale ranging from zero to 200.

“The unfavorable macroeconomic environment and the uncertainty regarding the coming months may hold the pace of recovery in the sector’s confidence,” says Rodolpho Tobler, coordinator of the survey.

Source: O Globo Agency