Industrial activity and construction recorded growth in January

After a difficult end to the year, the manufacturing industry started 2023 with positive data, posting annual growth of 6.3% and a seasonally adjusted monthly improvement of 0.7% in January. Better yet, it was the start of the constructionwhich, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) it experienced a rebound of 2.6% compared to January 2022 and a recovery of 4.3% compared to last December (seasonally adjusted variation).

In the case of manufacturing, for example, the study that measures the “Industrial Production Index” found that all major sectors included in the survey improved their workforces in the first month of the year. year, without exception.

In interannual terms, the one that obtained the best result is the branch of manufacture of automobiles and other transport equipment, with an improvement of 20.4%. Growth was driven by all of its sub-sectors. Production of finished vehicles and manufacturing of auto bodies increased by more than 30%, while manufacturing of automotive parts increased by 15%.

It was followed by three items that had almost the same result. It is furniture manufacturing (10.5%), the development of textiles, clothing, leather and footwear (10.2%) and the manufacture of metal products, machinery and equipment (10.2%).

The improvement recorded in Food and drinks (9%) and in the extraction of non-metallic mineral and base metal industries (8.3%).

Further back appear the petroleum refinement (0.4%), the manufacture of electronic equipment, apparatus and instruments (0.3%) and the production of edition on wood, paper and printing (0.1%).

Leaving aside the nine main branches of activity of the manufacturing industry, it is possible to find others of lesser impact which have had negative results. This is the case with the development of chemical substances and products. According to the industrial production index prepared by INDEC, this sector contracted by 4.5% in January this year, compared to the same month in 2022.

The recovery in construction has been remarkable. In December, this sector had accumulated three consecutive months of year-on-year declines and the results had continued to deteriorate (in December, there was a contraction of 10.6%). For this reason, it is good news for construction companies and for general economic activity that construction rebounded 2.6% in the first month of this year.

To arrive at this number, indec measured the demand for the 13 most relevant inputs for the activity. The results highlight the greater use finished concrete (26.3% growth). The increase in the use of plaster (11.4%) and Portland cement (9.2%), among others, was also significant.

At the opposite extreme, the ceramic floors and coverings (-26%) and the ceramic sanitary ware (-20.8%). However, the falling positions did not compensate for the general improvement in activity.

There was also a noticeable improvement in the number of jobs recorded in the private sector, although in this case the data is for December, so it does not add to or subtract from the specific January results. indecin the last month of 2022, the level of construction employment improved by 15.8%, reaching 450,797 formal workers.

However, that same month there was a steep drop of 31.2% in lto the area authorized by the building permits. Official data confirms that in December there was building permission for 1,089,518 m2, a much lower value than in December last year (1,583,533 m2).

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