Brazil’s industrial production fell 17.2 percent in February compared to the same month of 2008, although it increased 1.8 percent compared to January 2009, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) announced this week.
Helping Brazil's industrial production increase in February over January, the automotive industry recorded an expansion of 8.7 percent following vehicle production stoppages in the months of November and December.
However, Brazil's automotive production was still drastically below that of last year. According to the report, the three largest negative factors that drew down February's production from a year ago were: the fall in motor vehicle production of 29.8 percent, machinery and equipment dropping 32.2 percent, and basic metallurgy's decrease of 31.5 percent.
The interannual growth rate of industrial production went from being positive in January, which indicates one percent growth rate, to negative in February, which records a negative one percent contraction.