In terms of the index accumulated in the last twelve months, the national result recorded decrease of 1.0% in February 2012. It remained on a downward trend as observed since October 2010 (11.8%), with the most significant negative rate registered since February 2010 (-2.6%).  In terms of regional indexes, seven of the 14 areas surveyed also recorded negative results in February this year, being the main highlight the losses in Ceará (-11.4%) and Santa Catarina (-6.4%). Goiás (9.3%), Paraná (5.4%) and Espírito Santo (4.5%) recorded the main increases. 

From January to February 2012, the regional indexes of industrial output recorded positive rates in seven of the 14 areas surveyed by IBGE, in the seasonally adjusted series.  Paraná, with increase of 6.2%, accounted for the most significant advance, having partially overcome part the fall (13.3%) of January. The other areas recording production expansion above the national average (1.3%) were:  Rio de Janeiro (3.7%), Minas Gerais (3.0%), Ceará (2.5%) and São Paulo (1.5%). The other positive rates came from the following areas:  Espírito Santo (1.3%) and Northeast Region (0.8%).  On the other hand, Paraná (-7.7%), Goiás (-3.5%) and Ro Grande do Sul (-3.5%) recorded the most relevant negative rates, whereas Bahia (-0.6%), Pernambuco (-0.5%), Amazonas (-0.4%) and Santa Catarina faced more moderate decreases. 

The complete publication is available at www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfregional/. 

Eight of the 14 areas surveyed recorded decrease in production, compared with figures in February 2011. It is worth mentioning that February 2012 had one day less than February 2011. Rio de Janeiro (-9.0%), Amazonas (-8.3%), São Paulo (-6.6%), Ceará (-6.0%) and Santa Catarina (-4.5%) recorded decreases above the national average (-3.9%).  The other negative results were those of Ro Grande do Sul (-2.1%), Espírito Santo (-2.0%) and Minas Gerais (-1.1%). On the contrary, Bahia (20.1%) recorded the most significant increase, reflecting, to a great extent, the big production of the sector considering chemical products (91.4%).  Positive results were also recorded by: Northeast Region (10.6%), Goiás (7.0%), Pernambuco (6.5%), Paraná (0.5%) and Pará (0.1%).

In terms of the indexes accumulated in the first two months of the year, the reduction of production reached eight of the 14 areas surveyed Five areas recorded increase above the national average (-3.4%):  Rio de Janeiro (-9.1%), Ceará (-6.9%), Santa Catarina (-6.3%), São Paulo (-6.0%) and Pará (-4.5%).  The other areas which presented negative rates in terms of the index accumulated in this two-month period were:  Amazonas (-3.3%), Espírito Santo (-2.4%) and Minas Gerais (-1.8%).  In these areas, the lower dynamism resulted from the reduced production of durable consumer goods (cars, motorcycles, air conditioning appliances and mobile telephones) and of capital goods (especially trucks), besides the smaller production of mining and quarrying sectors (iron ore), textiles, apparel and metallurgy. 

Goiás (15.6%) and Bahia (12.7%), on the other hand, recorded the most significant decreases, and reflected mainly the biggest production of the sector of chemical products. The main highlights, in this case, were medicines, in the former subsector and thermoplastic resins, in the latter. Other positive figures came from:  Pernambuco (8.7%), Northeast Region (6.9%), Rio Grande do Sul (2.6%) and Paraná (2.6%).

The signs of decrease of the production pace were also clear in the comparison of the last quarter of 2011 with the result accumulated in the first two months of 2012,  both comparisons against the same period in the previous year.  Eight of the 14 areas surveyed presented lower dynamism, according to the change recorded by the national index, from -2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to -3.4% in the first two months of 2012. The biggest decreases in this type of comparison were those of Paraná (from 15.0% to 2.6%), Amazonas (from 6.6% to -3.3%), Pará (from 2.9% to -4.5%), Rio de Janeiro (from -2.5% to -9.1%) and Espírito Snato (from 2.9% to -2.4%), whereas Bahia (from -4.5% to 12.7%) and Northeast Region (from -3.0% to 6.9%) recorded the biggest increases between the two periods.