Services sector grows 1.1% in February

In the series without seasonal adjustment, in February 2022, the volume of services increased by 5.4%, its 24th consecutive positive rate. The accumulated in the year was 5.7% and the accumulated in twelve months went from 8% in January 2023 to 7.8% in February, being the lowest result since September 2021 (6.8%).

The expansion in the volume of services in February 2023 was accompanied by three of the five surveyed activities, with emphasis on the transport sector (2.3%), which recovered part of the 4.4% loss verified in the previous month. Other advances in the month came from information and communication services (1.6%) and other services (0.7%), with the first accumulating a gain of 2.4% in the first two months of the year; and the second advancing after registering a strong retraction in January (-8.6%).

On the other hand, professional, administrative and complementary services (-1.0%) and services rendered to families (-0.7%) were the negative influences in the month, with the first sector having the second setback in a row, with an accumulated loss of 3.1%; and the latter eliminating part of the gain (3.5%) observed in December and January.

According to the quarterly moving average, all five activities increased compared to the level of the quarter ended in January: services rendered to families (0.9%); other services (0.3%); transport (0.1%); information and communication (0.1%); and professional, administrative and complementary (0.1%).

“Information technology services and the transport sector continue to set the pace for services in the country. The most dynamic segments continue to perform well, while those most affected by the pandemic, especially face-to-face activities, have already overcome the long distance they had from the pre-pandemic period. In February, there was a recovery of part of the loss seen in January. The configuration of the services sector, therefore, does not change significantly in the first two months of 2023”, highlighted IBGE research manager Rodrigo Lobo.

“In sectoral terms, the services sector showed the spread of positive rates in February, with 3 of the five sectors advancing compared to January, and the highlight was the transport sector”, added Lobo.

Compared to February 2022, the volume of services increased by 5.4%, its twenty-fourth consecutive positive rate. This month’s result brought expansion in all five dissemination activities and also had growth in 55.4% of the 166 types of services surveyed.

“The service sector had an increase considered in February in the seasonally adjusted series in relation to January, that is to say that it takes away the effect of the time of year that, sometimes, when comparing one month with the other, ends up being influenced, and If you consider February 2023 against February 2022, you will see that the growth was even greater, this is a sign that the services sector is reacting well in 2023”, highlights economist Newton Marques.