RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's economy expanded 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter, the state statistics agency IBGE reported on Friday.
The slight expansion marked the sixth positive growth in a row after eight negative consecutive results, the Agencia Brasil news agency said.
Gross domestic product (GDP) reached 1.693 trillion reals, according to the agency.
Compared to the second quarter of last year, GDP grew one percent from April to June.
For the first half of the year, GDP saw growth of 1.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
Second quarter growth was mainly driven by services, which saw 0.3 percent growth, in contrast to the industrial sector, which shrank 0.6 percent. Agricultural output remained steady.
A prolonged truckers' strike in May against rising fuel costs brought distribution to a standstill around the country, slowing industry.
According to the IBGE, other factors also slowed economic growth, including a weakening currency, falling investment and political uncertainty generated by presidential elections in October.
Latin America's No. 1 economy is recovering from a two-year recession in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, Brazil grew one percent and is expected to see 1.5 percent growth in 2018.
