brazils economy expanded in the second quarter the fourth consecutive quarter of growth helped by the countrys services and industrial sectors gross domestic product rose 12 in the three months through june from the first quarter and expanded 32 from a year earlier the brazilian institute of geography and statistics or ibge said thursday in the first quarter gdp grew a revised 11 from the previous three months and increased 17 from a year earlier latin americas biggest economy has surprised economists since the start of the year by growing more than expected helped by a mild omicron wave of covid19 infections early in 2022 and by a strong labor market and government aid programs more recently rapid though moderating inflation and higher interest rates are expected to slow growth in the third quarter and possibly push the economy into a contraction in the fourth quarter we had expected a weaker second quarter but weve seen more robust numbers and a significant and continuous expansion instead said claudio ferraz head economist for brazil at the btg pactual investment bank one of the sectors that has surprised positively has been services the services sector which represents about 70 of the economy grew by 13 in the second quarter from the first and by 45 from a year earlier the ibge said thursday industry expanded 22 in the quarter and 19 from a year earlier while agriculture increased 05 from the previous quarter and contracted 25 from a year earlier consumer spending grew 26 in the quarter and 53 from the yearearlier quarter while government spending shrank 09 from the first quarter and grew 07 from a year earlier gross fixed capital formation a measure of investment grew 48 in the quarter and expanded 15 yearonyear the agency said for services we still have support from the government stimulus programs and the labor market is also helping according to flavio serrano chief economist at greenbay investimentos one thing is pushing the other the service sector is going well and its labor intensive that generates new jobs which boosts income and that increases demand for services