After the subtle recovery seen in March, Brazil's industrial production once again took up a downward trend. According to the Industrial Survey, released today (May 24) by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), the sector is still facing difficulties overcoming the economic recession.

Employment and the use of installed capacity also saw a decline last month and investors are less optimistic about employment, demand, exports, and the purchase of raw material. The indicator on the evolution of production dropped to 41.6 points, and the use of installed capacity slid to 36.6 points compared to its usual score.

Indicators can very from zero to 100 points. A score lower than 50 indicate a reduction, whereas a score higher than 50 means growth.

“Even though a decrease in the activity between the months of March and April is common, the reduction reported in 2017 was sharper than the usual,” says the study, which claims the large number of holidays is part of the reason behind the decline. April had 17 business days, compared to 23 in March.