Published by Uma Rajagopal
Posted on February 9, 2024
Italy Dec industry output rebounds slightly more than forecast at end of weak year
ROME, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Italian industrial output was slightly stronger than expected in December, rebounding 1.1% on a month-on-month basis following a 1.3% fall in November, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Friday.
A Reuters survey of 16 analysts had pointed to a 0.9% gain in December.
November’s data was revised up from an originally reported -1.5%.
December’s numbers close out a weak year for Italian industry, with work-day adjusted output down 2.5% over the 12-month period, following a 0.4% rise in 2022.
In December, on a work-day adjusted year-on-year basis, industrial output was down 2.1%, ISTAT said, the 11th consecutive decline.
In the last quarter of the year, it was down 0.5% compared with the July-to-September period.
December saw month-on-month increases for output of consumer goods, investment goods and intermediate goods, which more than offset a decline for energy products.
Italian gross domestic product rose 0.2% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months, preliminary data showed last week, following a 0.1% uptick in the third quarter.
Recent leading indicators such as consumer and business confidence and surveys of purchasing managers have pointed to a modest acceleration in growth in the first quarter of this year.
ISTAT gave the following details.
Mth/mth pct change (adjusted) 1.1 -1.3r -0.1r
Yr/yr pct change (adjusted) -2.1 -2.9r -1.1
Yr/yr pct change (unadjusted) -8.0 -2.9r 2.0
NOTE: BASE 2015=100
(r = revised)
ISTAT provided the following breakdown by broad product group in December: adjusted month-on-month percent change.
Consumer goods 3.0
Investment goods 1.6
Intermediate goods 0.8
Energy goods -2.0
((Gavin Jones, Rome newsroom, gavin.jones@reuters.com))
Keywords: ITALY ECONOMY/OUTPUT
