In December 2018, the volume of the services sector changed 0.2% compared to the previous month, keeping the stability seen in October (0.1%) and November (0.0%). In the series without seasonal adjustment, compared to December 2017, the volume of services changed -0.2% interrupting a series of four positive rates in a row in this comparison. The year-to-date rate was -0.1%, the fourth consecutive year of decline, with a loss of 11.1% in this period.

Between November and December 2018, despite the slight change of 0.2% in the volume of services, just the segment of information and communication services (0.2%) grew over the previous month, racking up the fourth positive rate in a row, accumulating a gain of 1.8% within the period. Among the four activities that had retraction in the month, the major negative impact stood with the sector of professional, administrative and complementary services (-1.5%), accumulating a loss of 4.3% between September and December.

The other drops came from Transportation , support activities for transportation and mailing (-0.6%)m other services (-0.2%) and services rendered to families (-0.1%), with the first one offsetting the 0.3% increase seen in the previous month; the second returning part of the 6.0% advance in the October-November period; and the last one showing a slight loss over the previous month result (0.4%).

Also in the seasonally-adjusted series, the index of the quarterly moving average for the volume of services fell 0.1% in the quarter ended in December 2018 over the previous month, after decreasing 0.1% in the quarter ended in November. Among the sectors, also in this comparison, the segment of other services (1.8%) recorded the highest expansion, followed by information and communication services (0.4%), both keeping the upward trend initiated in September 2018.

Conversely, the sector of professional, administrative and complementary services (-1.2%) recorded the most significant decrease and kept the downward trend started last September. The other negative rates came from services rendered to families (-0.2%) and Transportation , support activities for transportation and mailing (-0.1%), with the first one reversing the positive change recorded in November (0.3%); and the second keeping the downward trend initiated last October.

In the comparison with December 2017, the services sector changed -0.2% in relation to July 2018, with a drop in two out of the five activities and in 53.0% of the 166 types of services investigated. Among the activities, the sharpest negative influence was in the sector of professional, administrative and complementary services (-4.2%), pressed, to a large extent, by the drop in the revenue of engineering services, surveillance activities and private security, cash transportation, car rental an business management advisory. The other drop was in the sector of Transportation , support activities for transportation and mailing (-0.4%), mostly due to the decrease in the revenue of the enterprises that work in h=the activities of mailing, storage and long-distance water transportation, of road concessionaires and support to cargo transportation.

On the other hand, information and communication services (1.6%) exerted the main positive contributions on the global index, leveraged mostly by the increase of the revenue from the custom software development and license, advisory in information and portal technology, content providers and other Internet information services. The other positive figures came from services rendered to families (3.1%) and other services (2.3%), mainly explained by the increase in the revenue from enterprises in the hotel business, in the former sector; and from insurance brokers, supplementary pension plan, and health in the latter.

In the cumulative index from January to December 2018, over the same period a year ago, the services sector changed -0.1%, with a drop in two out of the five activities and in 58.4% of the 166 types of services investigated. Among the sectors, professional, administrative and complementary services (-1.9%) exerted the main negative impact on the global index leveraged, to a great extent, by the retraction in the revenue from the segments of  collection agencies and credit bureaus, of electronic payment solutions, engineering, surveillance and private security. Another sector that also showed decrease in 2018 was information and communication services (-0.5%), mostly due to the lesser revenue received by the enterprises of the telecommunication segment.

On the other hand, the positive contributions were in the segments of Transportation , support activities for transportation and mailing (1.2%), of other services (1.9%) and of services rendered to families (0.2%), driven mostly by the advance in the volume of revenue from road cargo transportation, of terminal and port management, of air transportation of passengers and airport operation, in the first sector; of activities of security and commodity contracts brokerage and exchange market management, in the second; and hotels in the last one.

Services fall in 23 of the 27 Federation Units in the cumulative index for 2018

In the cumulative rate from January to December 2018, over the same period a year ago, the decrease in volume of services in Brazil (-0.1%) was widespread along the places surveyed, since 23 out of the 27 Federation Units also recorded loss in the real revenue of services. The major negative impact in regional terms took place in Rio de Janeiro (-3.2%). Of note are the decreases coming from Ceará (-7.1%), Bahia (-3.3%), Paraná (-1.7%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-1.7%). Conversely, São Paulo (2.1%) recorded the most relevant positive contribution to the national index.

From November to December 2018, 18 of the 27 Federation Units had highs in the volume of services, against the previous month, according to the positive change seen in the country (0.2%). The areas that stood out in terms of positive results this month were Rio de Janeiro (1.6%) and São Paulo (0.3%), with the first recovering part of the 5.1% loss seen between September ans November; and the last one racking up the fifth consecutive positive rate, a period when it accumulated a 2.7% gain.

On the other hand, the major negative influences in regional terms came from Mato Grosso (-9.7%), Ceará (-6.3%) and Bahia (-2.0%), with the first one driven by the typical interruptions of road cargo transportation in this region; the second, by the segment of workforce recruitment and allocation; and the last one by the lower revenue from telecommunication and support activities to agriculture.

In relation to December 2017, the retreat in volume of services in Brazil (-0.2%) took place in 19 out of the 27 Federation Units. The most relevant negative influence came from Rio de Janeiro (-7.4%), with a retreat in three out of the five sectors surveyed, highlighted by  information and communication services (-17.3%) and professional, administrative and complementary services (-14.6%).

On the other hand, the most important contribution to the  formation of the global index came form São Paulo (3.1%), which recorded in three of the five activities surveyed (11.4%), leveraged by the information technology services.  

SPECIAL AGGREGATE OF TOURISM ACTIVITIES

From November to December 2018, the index of Tourism activities decreased 1.0%, the fourth negative rate in a row in this comparison, a period in which it accumulated a loss of 3.1%. In regional terms, five out of the 12 Federation Units followed this downward trend seen in the country. São Paulo (-2.7%) recorded the most important loss, whereas Rio de Janeiro (3.9%) had the most significant high.

In comparison with December 2017, the volume of Tourism activities in the country grew 1.5%. In regional terms, just three of the 12 Federation Units investigated  registered advance. The most relevant positive contributions came from São Paulo (5.3%), Ceará (13.5%) and Rio de Janeiro (2.2%). Conversely, the most relevant negative impact come from Paraná (-9.9%), Minas Gerais (-3.7%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-5.4%). 

In the cumulative index from January to December 2018, the special aggregate of tourism activities rose 2.0% against the same period last year. Regionally, eight out of the 12 places surveyed also registered positive rates, highlighted by São Paulo (5.1%), Pernambuco (4.4%), Ceará (6.6%) and Minas Gerais (1.3%). On the other hand, Rio de Janeiro (-3.4%) and Paraná (-5.9%) had the major negative influences.