Italy: Industrial production rebounds sharply in January but coronavirus crisis looms ahead
Industrial output jumped 3.7% in January on a month-on-month, seasonally-adjusted basis, beating markets expectations of a much milder 1.6% increase. Moreover, the reading marked the strongest expansion since August 2007 and strongly contrasted December’s 2.6% dive which had marked the sharpest contraction in almost two years.
January’s surge reflected a marked rebound in the manufacturing; mining and quarrying; and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sectors. Within the important manufacturing sector, the largest increases were recorded in the production of rubber products and of electrical equipment.
On an annual basis, industrial production dipped 0.1% in January in calendar-adjusted terms, following December’s 4.4% plunge. Meanwhile, annual the average variation in industrial remained stable at December’s minus 1.4% in January.