Brazilian industrial production rises 0.2 pct.

Brazilian industrial production rose by 0.2 percent in October compared to the month before, snapping a three-month losing streak, the government reported on Tuesday.

With the positive result, the industrial sector’s total growth rate for the first 10 months of the year has exceeded the same period in 2017 by 1.8 percent, according to data provided by the IBGE statistics agency.

Over the last 12 months, the industrial sector, which accounts for 12 percent of Brazil’s gross domestic product, has shown accumulated growth of 2.3 percent over the same period last year.

The sectors showing the healthiest growth in October included machinery and equipment (up 8.8 percent), beverages (8.6 percent), extractive industry (3.1 percent) and vehicles (3.0 percent).

The food sector, which in October experienced its fourth consecutive down month, has racked up an 8.4 percent drop since July, mainly due to a decline in production of sugarcane.

October’s slight industrial growth goes hand in hand with the Brazilian economy’s slow recovery after the deep recession into which the country slid in 2015-2016, during which GDP fell by almost 7 percentage points.

The government and financial economists expect economic growth of 1.39 percent this year and close to 2.5 percent in 2019.