Brasília – The confidence of Brazilian industrial businessmen dropped again in October. The Industrial Businessman Confidence Index (Icei) scored 54.6 points in October, 1.8 point less than in September, according to the National Confederation of Industries (CNI). The score is 8.2 points lower than in October 2010. The Icei ranges from 0 to 100. Figures higher than 50 show confidence.
According to the CNI, the trend of decline in confidence reinforces the prospect of a slowdown in industrial activity in coming months. The index in October 2011 was lower than the historical average, which is 59.4 points. The highlight was the extraction industry (57.8 points) the sharpest decline in October: the score was 5.9 points lower than in September 2011 (63.7 points).
Extraction industry businessmen are the least optimistic, according to the CNI, at 54.1 points. The building industry remains quite optimistic, despite a slight decline from 57.2 points, in September, to 56.5 points in October.
The CNI posits that the trend of decline seen in the Icei since January 2010 should continue due to the “persistence of a negative outlook for the world economy, which affects the Brazilian economy.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
