There was increase in the seasonally adjusted series, in comparison with September 2006. In relation to October 2005, there was hike of 4.8%, with accumulated growth of 2.9% in the year.

In October, the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production increased by 0.8% in comparison with September 2006, causing the result to be similar to the record level it reached in August this year. The index accumulated in the first ten months of this year was 2.9%. The figure accumulated in the last twelve months (2.7%) showed acceleration in comparison with those in September (2.3%) and August (2.2%).

Twelve of the twenty items which have seasonally adjusted series contributed to this growth in September 2006. Among the industries in which production increased, the most important overall result was that of automotive vehicles (6.2%), which grew after reduction by 9.0% in September. Other positive contributions came from other chemical products (1.7%), pharmaceutical industry (3.5%) and machinery and equipment (1.8%). On the other hand, the main negative contributions to the overall rate of industry were: electronic material and communication equipment (-10.3%), after growth of 15.9% in September, and petroleum refining and alcohol production (-3.7%), which has had its four consecutive fall, having accumulated 9.4% in the period. It is also worth mentioning the retrogression of beverages (-3.0%) and food products (-0.7%).

All the categories of use grew in relation to September: durable consumer goods (3.2%) had the highest positive rate, after significant fall observed in September (4.1%). The sector of semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (0.4%), also on a growing trend, had its second consecutive positive rate, increasing by 0.6% between October and August. The production of intermediate goods (-0.2%) and of capital goods (-1.6%) fell once more, having accumulated decreases of 2.3% and 2.7%, respectively, in the last two months.

In relation to October 2005, production increased by 4.8%, the highest result since March this year (5.3%). There was increase in twenty-two of the twenty seven categories surveyed, and it is worth mentioning, in this case, the impact caused by the difference in the month of October, with one more day than the previous month. Then main positive contributions to the overall rate came from machinery and equipment (11.2%); office machines and computer equipment (44.3%); editing and printing (13.0%) and automotive vehicles (5.9%). In these subsectors, the main highlights were, respectively: production centers and refrigerators, computers and monitors, books and magazines, and automobiles. On the other hand, among the industries with reduction of production, petroleum refining and alcohol production (-6.5%) was the one which most affected the overall rate.

Considering October 2005, all the categories of use had positive rates, being the highlight durable consumer goods (12.0%), the first increase in the last six months. The rates for the remaining categories were: capital goods (9.3%) and semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (5.4%), above the national average (4.8%), and intermediate goods (1.8%), below the national average.

Considering the indicator accumulated in the year,

in comparison with the same period in 2005, the total growth of industry was 2.9%, with increase of production of 21 activities. The production of office machines and computer equipment (52.6%) is still the leader in terms of contribution to the overall index, being the items computers and monitors the main highlights. Other relevant positive impacts came from mining and quarrying industry (7.1%) especially due to the extraction of petroleum and of iron ore, and from the subsectors electric machines, appliances and material (11.4%) and food products (2.1%). The highlights in these two subsectors were transformers and crystallized sugar, respectively. Among the activities which had decrease, the most relevant changes were those of chemical products (-2.0%), wood (-7.2%) and apparel (-5.3%).

In the period January-October, there was growth of all the categories of use, with durable consumer goods (6.9%) and capital goods (5.5%) as the main highlights, leading the expansion throughout 2006. The production of semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (2.9%) increased at the same rate of industry, whereas the sector of intermediate goods, with expansion of 2.0%, is the only subsector with a rate below average.

The maintenance of the industrial rhythm throughout 2006 may be attributed to factors such as the performance of exports of certain products or commodities; the increase of automobile production, stimulated, above all by the evolution of internal demand; the increased production of capital goods, especially in the computer and electric equipment segments; the positive behavior of sectors more related to the salary mass and less subject to imports. On the other hand, the most important reductions come from semi-durable goods (footwear and clothing manufacturing) and of the wood industry.

The evolution of production industry (0.8%) in October, versus September, caused slight but steady growing trend of the quarterly moving average index, which has reached its highest production level. Since April this year this index had had some increase in comparison with the previous month, having accumulated a rate of 1.5% in this period. According to this same comparison, by category of use, the sector of capital goods shows increase of 2.9%, followed by intermediate goods (1.1%) and by semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (0.2%). The sector of durable consumer goods (-2.9%) faced deceleration in the period.