The recovery of the Italian industry continues, albeit at a very slow pace, mainly due to the ballast of the automotive sector. After a very negative end of 2018, the February data confirm this the positive performance recorded in January in terms of turnover and orders.
According to the latest numbers released by Istat, in February the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production is estimated to have increased by 0,8% compared to January (+0,9% corrected for calendar effects). The increase is larger if only manufacturing activities are considered (+1,3%).
On average for the December-February quarter, the seasonally adjusted level of production decreases by 0,3% compared to the previous three months, while on a trend basis the raw index marks an increase of 0,9% as does the one corrected for calendar effects .
Istat notes that in February industrial production recorded the second positive cyclical change after four consecutive months of declines which had characterized the final part of last year.
Progress that would have been decidedly higher without the brakes of the car, once again in heavy decline: the Italian production of motor vehicles in February in fact decreased by 10% compared to the same month of 2018, on average for the first two months of the year trend decline is 13,8%.
In February, the indices corrected for calendar effects recorded a marked increase for consumer goods (+4,7%) and a slighter one for capital goods (+1,5%); energy decreases markedly (-4,1%) while the decrease in intermediate goods is more moderate (-1,1%).
The sectors of economic activity that recorded the most significant positive trend changes are the textile, clothing, leather and accessories industries (+11,7%), the production of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations (+5,3%) and the manufacture of computers, electronic and optical products, electromedical devices, measuring devices and watches (+4,4%).
The largest declines were recorded in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-13,9%), in the wood, paper and printing industries (-5,4%) and in the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air (-2,8%). Light Acc
