The services sector, which includes activities such as transportation, tourism and restaurants, grew by 1.2% in July compared to June. The result means that the segment – which employs the most people in the economy – reached its highest point in the historical series, surpassing the milestone reached in June.
Compared to July 2023, the expansion was 4.3%. In the accumulated total for 2024, the increase is 1.8%, while in 12 months the result shows an expansion of 0.9%. The data were released by the Monthly Survey of Services, released this Wednesday (11), in Rio de Janeiro, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Looking at the comparison between consecutive months, July’s result was the second consecutive increase. In June, the expansion had been 1.7%. In these two months, the sector grew by 2.9%, placing it 15.4% above the pre-pandemic level (February 2020).
Positive performance
In the comparison between July and June, three of the five major sectors showed positive results, with emphasis on the group of professional, administrative and complementary services, which rose 4.2%. Within this sector, the highlights were the activities of advertising space agency and business intermediation in general.
“Companies have been using digital platforms a lot to advertise,” says research manager Rodrigo Lobo.
He adds that a large company in the sector rectified underestimated numbers, which made the research perceive a big leap in the sector.
“From now on, there is a higher amount of revenue being reported than what was previously reported,” he explained. The name of the company, which operates in the advertising space agency service, was not disclosed.
(Article being updated)