In January, the services sector in Brazil registered a nominal growth of 9.3% in relation to January 2013 -  above the rates seen in December (8,3% reviewed) and November (8,8%). Services rendered to families  grew 12.1%, Communication and information services, 8.8%, Professional, administrative and complementary services, 9.0%, Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities, 10.0%, and Other services, 6.8% (Table 1). Over the last 12 months, January's rate (9.3%) was just lower than April's (11.6%) and September's (9.7%). The nominal growth over the last 12 months stood at 8.5%.

The Monthly Survey of Services (PMS) encompasses the non-financial business segment, except the sectors of health, education, public management and imputed rent. The complete publication can be seen on

www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/serviços/pms.

Information and communication services and Professional, administrative and complementary services contributed very much to the growth in the services sector in January.  These two segments present a very significant relative contribution to the sector's structure: 35.7% and 20.5%, respectively (Table 2).

As to the relative composition of the rate, the contribution of Information and communication services moved from 27.7% in December to 32.3% in January and Professional, administrative and complementary services, from 18.1% to 19.4%. Even though Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities have a notable weight in the composition of the rate, there was a deceleration from 41.0% in December to 34.4%, in January.

Services rendered to families grew 12.1% in January over the same month a year ago, above the rates seen in December (9.6%) and in November (10.1%). In this segment, the highlights are Housing and food services (12.3%) and Other services rendered to families (11.1%). The series keeps a continuous growth since February, rising from 7.3% to 12.1% in January. In the same period, the usual real wage bill of the employed population rose 3.0%[1] and moved from R$ 44,863 million to R$ 46,224 million.

Information and communication services grew 8.8%, above December's (6.6%) and November's figure (7.0%). Information and communication technology services - ICT, which comprise telecommunication and information technology services, grew 8.6% and Audiovisual, publishing and news agency services, 10.0%. The segment of Information and communication services represented 32.3% (or 3.0 percentage points in absolute terms) of the composition of the general index.

Professional, administrative and complementary services posted a growth of 9.0% in January, against 6.8% in December and 9.4% in November. Technical professional services, which encompass intensive services of knowledge, grew 13.8% and Administrative and complementary services, which include intensive services of labor force, 7.3%. It contributed with 19.4% (or 1.8 p.p.) to the overall index.

The segment of Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities recorded 10.0% in January, below December's rate (11.4%) and in the same level as November's (10.2%). The highest growth rates were registered in Waterway transportation (19.5%) and in Air transportation (12.2%), whereas Road transportation recorded a growth of 4.4%. Storage services and support activities for transportation and mailing activities changed 18.9%. This segment contributes with 34.4% (or 3.2 p.p) to the overall index.

The segment Other services[2] presented a nominal growth of 6.8%.

In January, all Federation Units on the rise

In January, all Federation Units presented a positive nominal growth. The highest rates were in the Federal District (19.1%), Goiás (17.8%) and Paraíba (17.0%) and the lowest in Mato Grosso (0.6%), Pará (1.4%) and Piauí (2.5%) (Graph 3).

Among the contributions in the Federation Units, the highlights are São Paulo (52.6% and 4.9 p.p.), Rio de Janeiro (12.8% and 1.2 p.p.), Paraná and the Federal District (both with 4.3% and 0.4 p.p.).

In Services rendered to families, the leaders are Espírito Santo (21.4%), São Paulo (19.3%) and Ceará (16.6%). The lowest positive rates were seen in Minas Gerais (4.6%), Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul (both 6.8%) and Pernambuco (7.6%). The Federal District fell (-2.8%). 

In Information and communication services, the greatest growth rates were seen in Goiás (27.7%), Federal District (13.8%) and Santa Catarina (13.1%). The lowest positive rates were seen Pernambuco (4.3%), Paraná (5.6%) and Ceará (6.8%). There were drops in Bahia (-6.8%), Espírito Santo (-2.6%) and Minas Gerais (-1.2%).

In Professional, administrative and complementary services, the leaders are the Federal District (19.4%), São Paulo (14.2%) and Santa Catarina (13.9%). The lowest positive changes were in Ceará (0.4%), Minas Gerais (1.0%) and Espírito Santo (2.5%). There was decrease in Bahia (-5.1%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-1.2%).

In transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing activities, the Federal District (29.0%), Pernambuco (14.7%) and Rio de Janeiro (12.1%) had the biggest changes, and the lowest were in Rio Grande do Sul (5.4%), São Paulo (8.9%) and Santa Catarina (9.0%).

In the segment Other services, the greatest growths were seen in the Federal District (42.8%), Bahia (20.1%) and Ceará (19.9%). The lowest rates were seen in Minas Gerais (7.2%), Rio Grande do Sul (5.8%), São Paulo (1.2%) and Espírito Santo (-15.0%).