Brazil’s economic activity advanced slightly in August after posting a strong gain the previous month, but remained less than 1% over 12 months, the central bank said. The bank reported the IBC-BR activity index rose 0.27% during the month after a 1.5% increase seen in July. With the latest result, the index has risen 0.93% over the past 12 months. For the year to date, however, activity has shown a contraction of 0.11%. The IBC-BR activity index serves as a monthly proxy for growth indicators, which are reported quarterly by the IBGE statistics institute. The latest data comes after the economy registered a 0.6% contraction in the second quarter of the year, putting the country into a technical recession. According to recent central bank market surveys, Brazil’s economy is seen growing by about 0.3% in 2014 after registering 2.3% growth last year. Brazil’s economy was seen showing more robust results this year with the country’s hosting of the World Cup in June and July, but economic activity slowed more than expected during that period.