Business confidence is up, while consumer confidence is down. This is what emerges from a report published Wednesday by Istat. According to the statistical institute, in April the composite index of the climate of confidence among Italian companies rose to 102,7 points, from 100,2 in March. As for individual sectors, the figure increased in manufacturing (to 102,7 from 102,2), construction (to 121,2 from 118,4) and market services (to 107,8 from 103,6), while it fell in retail trade (to 102,0 from 104,9).
In manufacturing firms, expectations on production improve (to 10 from 9), while assessments on order books worsen (to -14 from -13) and assessments on inventories remain stable at 4. In construction, both assessments on orders and/or plans improve construction and employment expectations (to -35 from -37 and -5 from -7, respectively).
In services, assessments and expectations on order books are growing (the respective balances to 12 from 0 and 8 from 2), while expectations on the performance of the Italian economy worsen (to 2 from 7). In the retail trade, both the balance of assessments on current sales (to 1 from 5) and that relating to expectations on future sales (to 23 from 28) worsened. Inventories remain stable at 11.
As for the consumer confidence climate index, it dropped slightly in April, going to 114,2 from 114,9 in the previous month. All the estimates referring to the consumer confidence climate components decreased compared to March: the economic one to 140,5 from 142,7, the personal one to 104,8 from 105,7, the current one to 110,0 from 111,1 and the future one to 120,2 from 120,6.
Opinions on the country's current economic situation also dropped (the balance to -38 from -34), while favorable opinions increased for expectations (to 8 from 5). In the past 12 months, price assessments have not changed (to -36), while expectations on unemployment have worsened (the balance passing from 21 to 12).
