ROME, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Italian industrial output unexpectedly fell 1.3% in August from the previous month after a 0.6% rise in July, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Friday, a far weaker reading than expected that clouds the outlook for the euro zone’s third-largest economy.
• A Reuters survey of 11 analysts had pointed to a flat month-on-month reading in August.
• ISTAT’s rolling three-month average showed that in the June-August period industrial output was down 1.1% compared with March-May.
• July’s data was revised down marginally from an originally reported 0.7%.
• On a work day-adjusted year-on-year basis, output was flat in August following a 0.1% decrease in July.
• The Italian economy held up better than many analysts expected in the first half of this year, with gross domestic product rising by 0.3% in the first quarter and 0.2% in the second.
• Giorgia Meloni’s government last week said gross domestic product would rise by 1% in 2026, hiking a previous estimate of 0.6% made in April.
• In 2025 the economy grew by 0.5%. It hasn’t exceeded 1% in the last three years despite the steady influx of tens of billions of euros of COVID-19 recovery funds from the European Union.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AUGUST JULY JUNE
M/m pct change (adj) -1.3 0.6r -1.0r
M/m pct change (adj) 0.0 -0.1r -0.6
Y/y pct change (unadj) 3.1 -0.1r 2.4
r=revised
(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, editing by Gavin Jones)
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