Still bad news for the Italian industry. In May, according to purchasing managers, the orders received from companies decreased further: the PMI manufacturing index remained in a largely recessive area, at 40,3 points (from 39,2 in April, the lowest in the last three years), well below the fateful threshold of 50, which marks the boundary between expansion and growth .
This decrease reflects the drop in both national and international demand. The component of new orders destined for the foreign market remained in contraction territory for the second consecutive month (47,4 points from 46,5), although signaling an attenuation of the rate of reduction. These are the latest estimates released by the Confindustria Study Center (Csc).
According to the CSC, last month industrial production fell by 0,6% on April, when there was a drop of -1,9% on March. The May change does not include the effects of the earthquake in Emilia Romagna, still too difficult to quantify.
Salt to -23,5% the distance from the pre-crisis peak of activity (April 2008), while the recovery from the lows of the recession (March 2009) is reduced to 3,5%. Furthermore, the indicators deteriorated sharply in May and point to a recessionary scenario for the coming months as well. In the second quarter the activity continues to decrease: the acquired variation is already -2,2% on the first. A retreat that comes after three quarters of economic downturns.
