Brazil's industrial output falls for second straight month

SAO PAULO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Industrial production in Brazil fell for the second month in a row in November, data showed on Wednesday, in a sign the economy may be cooling as the central bank tightens monetary policy to tame inflation.

Production was down 0.6% in November from October, more than the 0.5% decline projected in a Reuters poll of economists, with output falling in the four main categories surveyed.

In the previous month, production had declined 0.2%.

Tighter financial conditions, increased economic uncertainty and the recent sell-off in the Brazilian real have put pressure on the sector, according to Andres Abadia, Pantheon Macroeconomics' chief Latin America economist. "The outlook for the sector in the first half of 2025 is deteriorating, primarily due to tight financial conditions. But the lagged effect of fiscal support and still-resilient domestic demand suggest that some sub-sectors will continue to perform relatively well," he said.

Compared to a year earlier, industrial production in November grew 1.7%. (Reporting by Isabel Teles Editing by Christina Fincher)