Italian industry output falls more than expected in September
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ROME, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Italian industrial output was weaker than expected in September, falling 1.8% from the month before, data showed on Thursday.
A Reuters survey of 21 analysts had pointed to a 1.5% monthly decline. In August, output rose 2.3%, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported.
On a work-day adjusted year-on-year basis, output fell 0.5% in September, against a 2.9% increase in August. A Reuters survey of five analysts had pointed to a 0.9% rise in September.
In the three months to September, industrial output in the euro zone’s third largest economy contracted 0.4% compared with the second quarter.
September saw a month-on-month fall for output of intermediate and energy goods, while consumer and investment goods were flat, ISTAT said.
Data released last month showed that Italy’s economy had performed unexpectedly well in the third quarter, with output rising 0.5% from the second quarter and 2.6% year-on-year, defying earlier predictions from the Treasury of a contraction.
On the back of that data, Giorgia Meloni’s newly installed government last week raised its GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.7% from 3.3%, while leaving the 2023 forecast unchanged at 0.6%.
