Sales and orders down in industry in April. Istat detects it and highlights it a cyclical drop in turnover of 0,5% which brings the index back to February levels, specifying that on average for the last three months, the overall index increases by 0,6% compared to the previous three months. Corrected for calendar effects (there were 18 working days against 20 in April 2016), total turnover grew by 4% in trend terms, with increases of 3% on the domestic market and 6% on the foreign market. The raw turnover index drops, in trend terms, by 2,5%: the largest contribution to this decline comes from the internal component of intermediate goods, observes the institute.
In April also the industry orders, like turnover, they recorded a cyclical decrease (-0,7%); the index returns to the level recorded in January. Istat made it known by disseminating the data. On average over the last three months the trend is positive, with an increase of 0,8% compared to the previous three months. In comparison with the month of April 2016, the institute specifies, the raw index of orders records a decrease of 2,2%. The most significant decrease concerns the manufacture of computers and electronics (-14,2%), while the greatest increase is recorded in the manufacture of electrical equipment (+2,9%).
L'Eurozone, despite slowing growth in June, marks the best quarter of economic expansion in six years, according to i flash data from the Markit survey. The PMI manufacturing index rose to 57,3 from 57 in May, settling on its maximum value in 74 months, while that of services fell to 54,7 (from 56.3 in May), to its lowest in 5 months. The flash estimate of the Composite index indicates a value at 55,7 from 56,8 in May. Although the growth rate fell to a five-month low, Markit noted, the high inflow of new orders and the high level of confidence kept the level of job creation at one of the strongest levels in a period of decade. The average reading of the PMI for the second quarter of 56,4, was higher than 55,6 in the first three months of the year and reached its highest value since the first quarter of 2011.
