In March, the composite index of the confidence climate of Italian companies rose to 78 points, from 77,6 in February. The recovery of the overall index – explains Istat – is due to the improvement in the confidence of manufacturing companies, against the decrease recorded in the construction and retail trade sectors and the slight drop in the indicator in market services companies.
The confidence climate index for manufacturing businesses went from 88,6 to 88,9. Production expectations improve (from -4 to -3), while assessments on order books worsen (from -42 to -43); the balance relating to judgments on inventories passes from 1 to 0. The analysis of the climate of confidence by main groupings of industries (Rpi) indicates an improvement in production expectations in consumer goods (from -4 to -2) and in capital goods (from -3 to -1), while it indicates stability in intermediate goods (-5).
The construction business confidence climate index decreased from 81,5 in February to 80,0. Assessments on construction orders and/or plans worsen (the balance falls from -51 to -53), while expectations on employment remain stable (-13). As for market services companies, the index remains substantially constant (from 73,8 in February to 73,7). Assessments improve (from -26 to -23) and expectations on order books (from -13 to -11), but expectations on the trend of the economy in general worsen (from -49 to -53).
In the retail trade, the confidence climate index decreased from 75,8 to 75,4. Assessments on current sales recover (from -58 to -55), but expectations on future sales worsen (from -20 to -23); the level of inventories is judged to have slightly increased (from 3 to 4).
