Brazil manufacturing down sharply in 2014

Brazil's industrial production fell 3.2 percent in 2014, its worst performance since 2009 and another sign of weakness in Latin America's biggest economy, official statistics showed Tuesday.
The country's automotive sector led the decline with a 16 percent drop, followed by metal products (down 9.8 percent) and capital goods (down 9.6 percent), the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said.
The overall 3.2 percent contraction in industrial production was the worst since a 7.1 percent plunge in 2009, during a global economic crisis.
Brazil, the world's seventh-largest economy, ended the year amid a flurry of negative macroeconomic indicators: trade and current accounts deficits, near zero GDP growth, and annual inflation of 6.4 percent.
The prospects for 2015 are not much better.
The government on Monday reported that trade is still in negative territory and the central bank projected a stagnant economy and a more than 7 percent rise in consumer prices this year.