Brazilian economy 3.2% down on year; highest rate since 1996
Data released Tuesday (Dec. 1) indicate that the year-to-date biggest drop was recorded in investment in capital goods (12.7%), followed by industry (5.6%) and services (2,1%). 
Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 3.2% from January to September, compared with the same period last year. It has been the biggest drop since the beginning of the historical series of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which began in 1996.
Data released Tuesday (Dec. 1) indicate that the year-to-date biggest drop was recorded in investment in capital goods (12.7%), followed by industry (5.6%) and services (2,1%). The only sector to record growth during the period was agriculture, increasing 2.1%.
There was a decline of 0.3% in household consumption and 0.4% in government consumption. In the external sector, imports of goods and services fell 12.4%, according to IBGE, reflecting the impacts of dollar's appreciation on the real. Exports of goods and services grew 4%.
For IBGE's Quarterly Accounting Manager Cláudia Dionísio, a combination of factors has affected the performance of the Brazilian economy, which posted a 1.7% drop for the third quarter, compared with the previous quarter.
"In general, we got deteriorating employment and income pictures, rise in interest rates—hampering credit access and directly affecting consumption and investment: more devalued exchange rates, higher inflation, and drop in credit operations, which have, in a general way, contributed to this scenario."
Compared with the same period last year, GDP plunged 4.5% in the third quarter 2015, the biggest drop since the historical series began in 1996, and reached $382.24 billion.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: Brazilian economy 3.2% down on year; highest rate since 1996
