Italy: Industrial activity dips in January
Industrial output dropped 0.7% month-on-month in seasonally-adjusted terms in January (December: +1.2% mom). January’s notable downturn largely reflected a deterioration in manufacturing and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning output.
On an annual basis, factory output rose 1.4% in January, rebounding from December’s 0.9% fall. Moreover, the trend improved, with the annual average growth of industrial production coming in at 0.7%, up from December’s 0.4% reading.
Commenting on the outlook, Paolo Pizzoli, senior economist at ING, stated:
“Looking ahead, we don’t expect an imminent substantial acceleration in production. […] The consolidation of gas prices at relatively low levels should in principle continue to help energy-intensive sectors, but at the same time the impact of past interest rate hikes should be increasingly visible on demand.”