Key Brazilian economic activity index rises for fourth straight month

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Economic activity in Brazil rose for the fourth straight month in February, a central bank index showed on Wednesday.

The IBC-Br economic activity index, considered a leading indicator of gross domestic product, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, matching expectations from analysts polled by Reuters, and following a revised 0.52% increase in January.

Recent official data revealed unexpected growth in the retail sector in February, while the services sector and industrial output surprisingly dropped in Brazil.

Meanwhile, the largest economy in Latin America created a net 306,111 formal jobs in February, beating estimates.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the IBC-Br expanded by 2.59% since February of last year and grew by 2.34% on a 12-month basis.

Alberto Ramos, head of Latin America economic research at Goldman Sachs, said Brazil's economic activity should "continue to benefit from significant fiscal stimulus, the generous increase in the minimum wage, the turnaround in the credit cycle and solid real household disposable income growth."

He added, however, that "still-tight" domestic monetary conditions, "still-high" levels of household indebtedness, and "low levels" of economic slack should mitigate the move.

(Reporting by Camila Moreira and Andre Romani; editing by Steven Grattan and Paul Simao)

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