The Services Confidence Index (ICS), calculated by FGV’s Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE), rose 2.4 points in September, totaling 85.6 points – the highest level since December 2014.

“The good news is that, throughout the third quarter, business assessments on the current situation and estimates for coming months maintained a balanced profile. In previous months, expectations had kept confidence from improving. Therefore, it is possible that the reaction in the industry’s actual activity gains a clearer boost in the coming months,” said Silvio Sales, IBRE consultant.

The increase in services confidence in September covered 11 of the 13 main activities surveyed, based on the improvement in both the current situation and expectations for the next few months. The Current Situation Index (ISA-S) rose 3.2 points and the Expectations Index (IE-S) rose 1.6 points.

The Current Demand Volume and Current Business Situation indicators contributed equally to the increase in the ISA-S in September, advancing 3.2 points – almost at the same levels as in early 2015. Among the indicators that make up the IE-S, the most important was the indicator that assesses the Business Trend for the next six months, which rose 2.0 points, totaling 91.9 points.

In September, the Level of Installed Capacity Utilization (NUCI) of the services industry returned to the 81.5% historical low recorded last June.

Hiring Momentum

Besides holding the most value-added in Brazilian economy, the services industry is also the one with most jobs. Therefore, indications on hiring expectations in this industry are extremely relevant for short-term economic scenario prospects. The Jobs indicator for the next three months rose by 2.1 points in September, reaching 99.0 points.

The September 2017 edition collected information from 2,014 companies between September 4 and 26. The next Services Survey will be released on October 31.