In July, revenues from the machinery and equipment industry increased 1.7% compared to the same month last year and fell 1.6% compared to June, totaling R$ 5.86 billion. The data was released yesterday (30) by the Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq).

In the accumulated between January and July, the sector earned R $ 37.9 billion, down 5.6% compared to the first seven months of last year. According to Abimaq, the decline can be explained by the appreciation of the real.

The commercial balance of the sector had a negative balance of US$ 427.6 million, down 54.2% compared to July of last year and a 70.2% increase compared to June. Exports totaled US$ 727 million in July, up 20.2% over last year. Imports totaled US$ 1.15 billion, down 24.9% in the same comparison.

In the first seven months of the year, the balance of trade in the machinery and equipment industry was negative by US$ 2.4 billion, representing a fall of 55% compared to last year.

Employment

The balance released on Wednesday by Abimaq showed a decrease of 5.6% in the number of employees in the sector compared to the previous year, totaling 288.7 thousand employed persons. According to Abimaq, this meant a reduction of 17.4 thousand jobs. Since 2013, the association reported, the sector has lost 91,000 jobs.