Italy: Manufacturing PMI virtually unchanged in December
The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) inched up to 48.5 in December from November’s 48.4. Although the index remained entrenched below the 50.0 no-change threshold, the increase signaled a less marked deterioration in business conditions in the private sector compared to the previous month.
Decembers result was driven by softer contractions in new orders and production. While business confidence remained downbeat, it improved from November amid hopes of recovering demand and investment planning. On the price front, the pace of input cost inflation slowed to the lowest level since October 2020, although it remained relatively high due to high energy and materials costs. As a consequence, firms raised their prices at the most moderate pace in 22 months.