Chile's July economic activity surprises

Chile's economic activity index (Imacec) showed 2.5% growth in July compared with the same month of last year, beating the consensus estimate of 2.0% and sparking hopes for Q3 after the economy faltered during the second quarter. Activity rose 0.1% from the previous month and 2.7% for the last 12 months.

The main reason for the higher-than-expected figure was that July activity was affected by a two-week strike in state-controlled mining firm Codelco, which was reflected in its 2.0% year-on-year drop in output.

"The strikes accounted for around half of the decline in overall mining output, and shaved half a point off the increase in the headline IMACEC figure," according to research firm Capital Economics. Total mining production was down 4.4% from July last year.

Activity in other sectors, such as retail which grew 3.0% in July, helped offset the drop in mining output.

The Imacec had also outstripped projections in June, although by a smaller margin of 2.7% versus the 2.5% consensus forecat, which some observers took as a sign that the economic slowdown would not continue into H2.

Capital Economics maintained its projection of 2.2% GDP growth for 2015.

Pictured: A mining truck at Codelco's El Teniente copper mine