Industrial output fell 10.8 percent in January year-on-year, the INDEC national statistics bureau revealed Wednesday, a ninth consecutive month of decline.
However, production rose 4.6 percent compared to the previous month, December 2018, offering some hope that the recession may have bottomed out.
Argentina's industry has been hit hard by the recession, paired with soaring inflation that hit 47.6 percent in 2018. Last December saw the worst monthly indicator of the year registered – a 14.7 percent slump for the month year-on-year, following on from contractions of 13.3 percent in November, 6.8 percent in October and 11.5 percent in September.
In 2018, industry shrank five percent in total on the previous year.
January's shrinkage was led by falls in vehicle manufacturing (down 28.2 percent), equipment, apparatus and instruments (down 26.3 percent); agricultural machinery (down 22.5 percent), non-metallic minerals (down 16.8 percent), furniture (down 14.6 percent) and textiles (down 14.4 percent).
INDEC also reported that construction collapsed 15.7 percent in January year-on-year, yet recovered 4.4 percent in relation to figures from December.
- TIMES/AFP
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