Brazil’s industrial production contracted sharply in December and finished last year with its worst result since the 2009 recession, as rising interest rates, weak demand and waning confidence from consumers and businesses weighed on output, Nasdaq reported. Production declined 2.8% in December from November in seasonally adjusted terms, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said. Economists had expected a smaller drop of 2.4%, according to the median estimate in a survey by the local Agencia Estado newswire. The decline was accentuated by a 23% drop in output of capital goods, or equipment and machinery, in December from the previous month.
