Italy industrial output misses forecast, rebounds less than expected in Feb after Jan slump

Italy's industrial production rose 0.1 percent in February, data from the statistical office Istat showed Monday. Italian industrial output rebounded less than expected in February after a steep drop in January. However, the underlying positive trend remained in place.

The rise in Italian industrial output in February was below the median forecast of a 1.5 percent increase in a Reuters’ poll and partly reversed the 2.3 percent drop in the previous month. In the three months to February output was up 0.7 percent compared with the September-to-November period, national statistics bureau ISTAT said.

Details of the report showed firm increases in output of investment goods and intermediate products. The rise was offset by a slight decline in consumer goods and a steep fall in energy products.

On a work-day adjusted year-on-year basis, output in February was up 1.9 percent, following a 0.2 percent fall in January, which was revised up from an originally reported decline of 0.5 percent.