Italian industrial output falls in sign of cooling growth

16th April 2018

Italian industrial output unexpectedly declined in February, adding to signs that the euro region’s upswing may have passed its peak.

Production decreased 0.5 percent from January, when it fell a revised 1.8 percent, national statistics office Istat said in Rome on Tuesday. Economists had predicted it would expand 0.8 percent in February, according to the median of 24 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey. From a year earlier, work-day adjusted industrial output rose 2.5 percent.

Production of consumer goods dropped 2.4 percent in February, contributing the most to the monthly contraction.

Italy’s manufacturing morale declined more than expected last month after general elections failed to produce a clear winner, prompting fears of long negotiations before a new government can be formed.

Italy’s economy, the euro region’s third-biggest, expanded last year at the fastest pace since 2010 as slower consumption was more than offset by rising exports and investments. Still, national output remained below its pre-crisis peak, whereas all the major European economies have long regained lost ground.

Industrial production decreased in February in Germany, the euro region’s largest economy, as construction slumped and output of investment goods dropped. The 1.6 percent decline was the biggest since August 2015.

Investors are losing faith in the strength of the currency-bloc’s economy after that and other numbers fell short of expectations. A monthly report from research group Sentix said their view of the economy has turned negative for the first time since July 2016.

Source: BLOOMBERG QUINT