Volume of services in May is 1.1% below the visa in December 2018

With the zero variation in the volume of services rendered in May before April, in the series with seasonal adjustment, the service sector recorded the second month of relief, but is still 1.1% below the level verified in December 2018, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In relation to the highest point of the monthly Service Survey (PMS) series, the volume of services rendered in May was 11.8% below that recorded in January 2014-the series starts in 2012. According to the manager of the PMS, Rodrigo Lobo, the high of 0.5% in April before Març and stability in May did not annui the decline of 1.6% in the accumulated from January to March. Transport activity is primarily responsible for poor performance. In May, this segment declined 0.6% before April, and in the first five months of the year, there were four negative rates compared to the immediately preceding months. " Much of the lower pace of the service sector is closely linked to the lower dynamism of the transport sector, which is associated with the lower dynamism of economic activity as a whole, "he says. For the doctor in Economics and professor at the Faculty of Campinas (Facamp), José Augusto Gaspar Ruas, the absence of growth in May indicates a tendency of consolidation of a bad first semester. "The service sector has again presented signs of difficulties in the economy. The zero growth (0.0%) Indicates stagnation and reinforces pessimistic data of industry and trade, "says Ruas. The segments with positive results were those of services rendered to families (0.5%), information and communication services (1.7%) and Professional and administrative services (0.7%). "In summary, the service sector is very much affected by the retraction of the economy in recent years. The sequence of results maintains this lag and reinforces the scenario of pessimism for the remainder of the year, "says Facamp's teacher. For the economists of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), holding of Banco MUFG Brazil, the result of May shows a delicate scenario also for the second quarter. "If the service activity in June also shows zero growth, then the performance in 2Q19 compared to the previous quarter may present a slight contraction of 0.2%," they evaluate. A little more optimistic, projections from the National Confederation of Trade (CNC) estimates that the sector can register this year, after four negative results, the first positive performance in 2019. The estimate is that the high stays in the house of 1.6%.