Brazil: Industrial production rebounds in April
Industrial production swung back to growth in April increasing 0.8% month-on-month in seasonally-adjusted terms, after falling 0.1% in March. The print surprised to the upside coming in above market expectations of a 0.5% rise. The rebound was driven by a turnaround in intermediate goods production and faster production of durable consumer goods. In contrast, production of capital goods lost steam in April.
In annual terms, industrial production growth soared from a revised 1.1% in March (previously reported: +1.3% year-on-year) to 8.9% in April, the best result since April 2013. Notably, April 2018 had three more working days than the same month last year helping to boost the growth reading. Annual average growth also improved from 2.8% in March to 3.9%.