Brazil posts 2.3% GDP growth

Brazil's economic output grew 2.3 percent in 2013 for a third straight year of modest expansion by Latin America's biggest economy, the government said Thursday. Gross domestic product growth for the final quarter of the year rose a brisker-than-expected 0.7 percent compared to the third quarter, according to Brazil's Institute for Geography and Statistics. Among the sectors showing the greatest expansion was agriculture, which rose by seven percent. By contrast, the service sector expanded by two percent and industrial output was up 1.3 percent. Consumption by Brazilians, the main engine driving the economy, increased 2.3 percent, the government said. In 2012, the economy expanded just one percent after growing 2.7 percent in 2011. GDP rose a sizzling 7.5 percent in 2010. To stimulate the economy, the government since 2011 has cut taxes on cars and home appliances among other measures.