BRASILIA: A gauge of economic activity in Brazil fell in February for a 14th consecutive month, central bank data showed on Friday, underscoring a view that a deep recession in Latin America's largest economy had yet to hit bottom.
The Brazilian central bank's IBC-Br economic activity index fell 0.29 percent in February from the prior month after seasonal adjustments, the bank said.
A Reuters survey of 18 analysts forecast a 0.56 percent drop in the indicator, a gauge of activity in the farming, industry and services sectors.
The IBC-Br index is seen as an advance indicator for the gross domestic product figures released on a quarterly basis by the country's statistics agency, IBGE.
Brazil's GDP is expected to shrink 3.8 percent in 2016 for a second straight year, according to a weekly central bank poll on Monday.
That would be its longest and deepest recession in more than a century.
On an annual basis, February's IBC-Br index fell 4.5 percent from February 2015, the central bank said, despite an extra day in the calendar this year.
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