A survey carried out by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), released today (16), pointed to a fall in production and employment in January 2023 in January, but maintained the signal of stability in the use of installed capacity (UCI). The data refer to the comparison with December 2022.
According to the CNI, this behavior is close to that expected for the month of January, with the indicators remaining close to their averages for the period.
The confederation said that, in January, the production evolution index stood at 46.1 points, below the dividing line of 50 points. The indicator ranges from 0 to 100 and the farther from the cutoff line, towards zero, the greater and more widespread the retreat. In December last year, the indicator stood at 42.8 points.
“Although there was a drop in production, the index advanced 3.3 points in January, indicating that the drop was less widespread than that recorded in December,” said the CNI.
For small companies, this indicator stood at 40.7 points in January. In medium-sized companies, the registered index was 45.5 points and, in large companies, 49 points.
Job
Regarding industrial employment, the survey recorded a drop from December 2022 to January 2023, a behavior that, according to the CNI, is usual for the period. The evolution index of the number of employees was 47.8 points, which corresponds to a decrease of 0.9 points from December to January.
“The result is below the dividing line of 50 points since October 2023, indicating that the perception of a drop in industrial employment that marked the last quarter of 2022 was maintained at the beginning of 2023”, said the confederation.
Production capacity
Regarding the use of installed capacity (UCI), the indicator showed stability in comparison with December 2022, standing at 67%. The CNI said that this result indicates a slowdown, after the industry registered stronger than usual activity in 2022.
“The index of utilization of the effective installed capacity in relation to the usual registered 42.5 points in January, which is equivalent to a slight advance of 0.3 points, in relation to the previous month. In comparison with December 2022, the index shows stability, standing close to the average for the months of January (42.3 points)”, said the CNI.
Stocks
In January, the inventory level evolution index was 49.8 points, just below the 50-point dividing line, indicating a small drop in inventories compared to December 2022.
The effective inventory level index in relation to the planned one registered 51.6 points in January, which means that the indicator is above the level planned by the companies. Since July 2022, the results of this index have been above 50 points, showing the persistence of stocks above planned.
Expectations
The CNI also said that for February 2023, all expectations indices increased, showing greater optimism among businessmen with growth expectations for the next six months.
“After worsening business expectations in November and December 2022, the first two months of 2023 recorded a recovery in expectations,” said the entity.
For the survey, the CNI consulted 1,646 companies, including small, medium and large, between the period of February 1st to 9th.
