Industry and construction recovered in August after the sharp drop in July

In the comparison against August 2025, the industrial index cae 3,2% and lost 4.4% compared to the same month in 2025. The accumulated January-August lost 2,7% respect to the same period of 2025.

For its part, construction activity picked up the Synthetic Construction Activity Indicator (ISACA) registered a rise of 0.4% monthly in August and accumulates a 0.8% expansion in the first 8 months of the year.

“Industry and construction grew in August,” the minister wrote on the social network Luis Caputo. And he explained that “6 of the 9 categories in which the IPI is disaggregated recorded growth in the inter-monthly comparison”.

In terms of magnitude of the variations, other equipment, devices and instruments (9.8%)furniture and other manufacturing industries (4.3%), oil refiningchemicals, rubber and plastic products (3.6%) and automotive and other transportation equipment (2.4%).

In the accumulated first 8 months of 2026the industry had a down 2.7%. “This period includes the month of July, where there was a combination of shocks transitorios with a generalized impact on the level of activity,” explained Caputo.

“The rebound recovers only part of what was lost and maintains the downward trend. Activity accumulates a drop of 2.7% in the year. Sustaining idle capacity consumes capital and compromises companies and jobs: a factory can last for months covering costs, but it cannot live indefinitely like this,” said Diego Coatz, director of R&D.

“We project that this year some 3,000 industrial companies will disappear. The sandwich effect became a turnstile: between January and August, industrial prices rose 8.3% in dollars, compared to 21% for services and 41% for electricity. Costs are rising and margins are shrinking. There is no creative destruction, but rather regressive extinction that drags down employment and investment,” adds Coatz.