Industry confidence drops for the 4th time and confirms the sector’s insecurity, says CNI

The Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index (ICEI), from the National Industry Confederation (CNI), retreated below the 50-point dividing line in January, to 48.6, for the first time since July 2020. The drop was 2 .2 points compared to December — the fourth consecutive year.

The data shows that there is a generalized lack of confidence in the sector, driven by a “worsening of the conditions of companies and the Brazilian economy, which already occurred in December, but has become more intense and widespread”, said the CNI in a report released this Thursday. -Friday (12).

“Measuring business confidence is important, because the idea is to anticipate movements in industrial activity. Confident businessmen tend to increase their production, hire more, invest more, and the opposite occurs with a lack of confidence,” said CNI Economic Analysis manager Marcelo Azevedo in a press release.

“As the index has dropped and passed into the field of lack of confidence, there is caution with regard to hiring, with regard to investment.” The CNI survey also points out that, compared to the same period in 2022, there was a 7.4-point drop in national industry confidence.

The ICEI index is measured based on two components: while the Current Conditions Index measures the perception of entrepreneurs about the national economy in relation to the last six months, the Expectations Index evaluates the sector’s perspectives for the following semester.

In the current survey, the first component retreated 2 points, to 48.3; the second, 2.2 points, at 48.8.

The CNI survey was carried out between January 3 and 9 with 1,306 companies — 527 small, 475 medium and 304 large.