BRASILIA, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's economic activity registered a growth of 0.47 percent in August compared to July, making it the third consecutive monthly increase, Brazil's Central Bank (BC) said Wednesday.

The BC's Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br) grew 2.5 percent in August compared to the same period last year.

The activity level also registered gains of 3.45 percent in June and 0.65 percent in July, following a decline of 3.33 percent in May due to the truckers' strike.

During the first eight months of the year, economic activity grew 1.28 percent, according to the data from the BC. Meanwhile, the 12-month period ending in August saw growth of 1.5 percent.

The next official release of the numbers on the GDP will be on Nov. 30 when the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) presents its third semester report.

The IBC-Br, which incorporates information on the level of activity in the industry, trade, services and agricultural sectors, is calculated by the BC as a preview of the GDP with the objective of facilitating monetary policy decision making.

Analysts, however, warn that the data from the IBC-Br should not be taken literally, because the forecasts from the BC don't always fall in line with the official indexes from the IBGE.

The financial market forecasts economic growth in 2018 will be 1.34 percent.