The services sector in Brazil registered a nominal growth of 4.5% in August 2014 in relation to the same month in 2013, below the rates reported in July (4.6%) and June (5.8%). This was the lowest result since the beginning of the survey. Services rendered to families rose 9.0%; information and communication services, 1.7%; professional, administrative and complementary services, 7.9%; transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities, 3.2%; and other services, 10.6%. The cumulative nominal growth in the year and in 12 months were 6.7% and 7.4%, respectively, also the lowest rates in the time series.     

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/english/estatistica/indicadores/serviços/pms.

Table 1
BRAZIL - Nominal Revenue Indicators for the Services Sector, by Activity Groups
PMS - August 2014

The growth of 1.7% registered by Information and communication services (below the changes of 2.1% in July and of 5.7% in June), coupled with the growth of 3.2% recorded by Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities (below the changes of 4.6% in July and of 4.7% in June), were the factors that kept the August´s figure in a level below those in previous months.

As the activity with the highest weight in the structure of the overall rate of PMS (35.7%),  Information and communication services dropped in the relative composition of the overall rate, changing from 15.2% in July to 13.3% in August. By weighting 30.7%, Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities reduced its relative participation from 32.6% to 22.2%. 

Services rendered to families changed 9.0% in August over the same month in the previous year, above the rate in July (5.4%) and below that in June (11.1%). Concerning the cumulative rates, the figures were 10.4% in the year and in the last 12 months. The activities that comprise this segment posted the following results: housing and food services (9.7%) and other services rendered to families (4.4%).  In relative terms, companies providing such type of services contributed with 13.3% and, in absolute terms, with 0.6 p.p. for the composition of the overall index.

Information and communication services recorded a growth of 1.7%, below the rates of July (2.1%) and June (5.7%). The cumulative rate in the year stayed at 4.6% and, in the last 12 months, at 5.5%. Communication and information technology services - ICT, which comprise telecommunications and information technology services, recorded a change of 1.8%, whereas audiovisual, publishing and news agency services changed 0.9%. The sector of Information and communication services accounted for 13.3% of relative contribution in August and 0.6 p.p. of absolute contribution to the overall index.

Professional, administrative and complementary services rose 7.9%, against 7.0% in July and 7.3% in June. In cumulative terms, the results were 7.7% for the first eight months of the year and 7.9% for the last 12 months. Technical-professional services, which encompass knowledge-intensive services, changed 1.4%, and administrative and complementary services, which encompass labor-intensive services, 10.3%. By relatively contributing with 35.6%, this segment contributed with 1.6 p.p. in absolute terms to the overall index.

The sector of Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities registered a growth of 3.2% in August over the same month in 2013, below the rates reported in July (4.6%) and June (4.7%).  Concerning the cumulative figures, the rates were: 7.4% for the first eight months of the year and 8.5% for the last 12 months. All the activities registered positive figures: road transportation (0.8%), waterway transportation (6.2%), air transportation (6.0%) and warehousing services, support activities for transportation and mailing activities (6.5%). The segment of Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities contributed with 22.2% in relative terms and, in absolute terms, contributed with 1.0 p.p. to the overall index.

Having recorded a rate below those from previous periods (0.8%), the segment of Road transportation was influenced by the decreased demand for Road cargo transportation, mainly by the industrial sector, thus reducing the freights.

The segment of Other services rose 10.6%, above the changes in July (8.3%) and in June (1.1%). The cumulative rates in the eight months of the year and in the last 12 months reached 6.5% and 7.0%, respectively. In absolute terms, this segment contributed with 0.7 p.p. and, in relative terms, with 15.6% to the overall index.

All 23 states change positively in August

23 out of the 27 Federation Units recorded a positive change when compared with August 2013. The highlights were: The Federal District (13.2%), Acre (11.2%) and Tocantins and Rondônia (both with 8.2%). The following Federation Units posted negative nominal changes: Amapá (-3.9%), Piauí (-2.0%), Mato Grosso do Sul (-1.2%)and Espírito Santo (-0.6%).