Argentina: Economic activity decelerates in December
The monthly indicator for economic activity (EMAE, Estimador Mensual de Actividad Económica) lost steam in December; growth in economic activity slowed from 3.9% in November to 2.0%. This marked the tenth consecutive month of expansion, albeit at the slowest rate since April 2017.
December’s reading reflected slowdowns in almost all components of the index. Year-on-year growth in manufacturing activity moderated from a 3.7% expansion in November to 0.2% in December. Growth in financial intermediation more than halved, from 7.7% to 3.1%, and construction activity moderated from 16.6% in November to 12.2% in December.
A seasonally-adjusted month-on-month comparison showed that economic activity accelerated from a 0.3% increase in November to 0.6% growth in December. Lastly, economic activity in the 12 months up to December jumped to 2.6% on average, up from 2.2% in the 12 months up to November.