The services sector recorded in Brazil a nominal growth of 1.6% in January 2015, in the comparison with the same month a year ago. It was the lowest change in the time series started in January 2012, below the rates recorded in December (4.0%) and November (3.7%). The cumulative rate in the year is 1.6% and over 12 months, 5.4%. Services rendered to families grew 8.6%, Communication and information services fell -2.5%, Professional, administrative and complementary services increased 5.3%, Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities, 2.2%.
The Monthly Survey of Services (PMS) is the first short-term indicator that investigates the services sector in Brazil. It encompasses the activities comprising non-financial business segments, except the sectors of health, education, public administration and imputed rent (value the owners would earn in case they rented the properties where they live). The complete publication can be accessed on page www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/servicos/pms.

Table 1
BRASIL - Indicators of the Nominal Revenue of the Services Sector, According to the Groups of Activities
PMS - January 2015

Source: IBGE, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Coordenação de Serviços e Comércio.

The segment of Services rendered to families in Brazil changed 8.6% in January over the same month a year ago, below the rate reported in December (8.8%) and above November's (4.4%). The activities that comprise this segment posted the following results: Lodging and food services (8.7%) and Other services rendered to families (8.1%).

Information and communication services posted a negative nominal change of -2.5% in January over the same month a year ago, against -2.0% registered in December and 1.0% in November. Information and communication technology services - ICT, which comprise telecommunications and information technology services, recorded a rate of -2.6% due to, among others, the lower demand by enterprises and governments. Audiovisual, publishing and news agency services recorded a change of 1.5%.

The growth of Professional, administrative and complementary services was 5.3% in January, in the comparison with the same month a year ago, bellow the changes in December (11.0%) and November (6.6%). Technical-professional services, which encompass knowledge-intensive services, recorded decrease of -6.5% and Administrative and complementary services, which encompass labor-intensive services, grew 9.7%.

The segment of Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing registered a nominal growth of 2.2% in January over the same month last year, bellow the rates reported in December (4.9%) and November (3.9%). In terms of mode, the figures were: Land transportation (4.7%), Water transportation (14.5%) and Air transportation (3.7%). The segment of Storage services, support activities for transportation and mailing activities registered a rate of
-4.2%.

Other services presented a negative nominal change of -0.1%, but in December and November rates of 3.4% and 6.5% were registered, respectively.

In January, Rio Grande do Norte boosts (9.2%)

In relation to results by area, 18 out of the 27 Federation Units recorded positive changes in the comparison between January 2015 and the same month a year ago, with a highlight to: Rio Grande do Norte (9.2%), Ceará (7.2%) and Pará (6.6%). The lowest positive growth rates were recorded in Paraná (0.1%), São Paulo (0.4%) and Pernambuco (1.2%). The main negative nominal changes came from: Alagoas (-7.4%), Amapá (-4.7%), Roraima
(-4.1%), Piauí (-3.2%), Sergipe (-3.1%), Acre (-1.6%), Maranhão (-0.8%) and Paraíba (-0.3%). The state of Amazonas remained unchanged in January 2015, in relation to January 2014.

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Graph 7
Change rate of the nominal revenue of the sector of Services, by Federation Units, according to the Month/Same month a year ago index

Source: IBGE, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Coordenação de Serviços e Comércio