Italian industrial production in March is at a standstill, but however, it does better than the German and French ones. Indeed, in March the Italian data did not improve compared to that of February, but it did so on an annual basis, with a growth of 0,5%. Istat also specifies that on average for the January-March quarter, production increased by 0,7% compared to the previous quarter, while compared to the same period of the previous year it increased by 1,6%.
The seasonally adjusted monthly index shows at least one positive cyclical variation in the energy sector (+1,2%); on the other hand, capital goods (-1,6%), intermediate goods (-1,2%) and consumer goods (-0,7%) decreased. As for the sectors of economic activity in March i sectors that record the greatest trend growth are those of the manufacture of machinery and equipment nec (+7,3%), of the manufacture of means of transport (+1,9%) and of the other manufacturing industries, repair and installation of machines and equipment (+1,6%) .
Le major decreases instead, they are registered in the sectors of the production of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations (-6,5%), of the textile, clothing, leather and accessories industries (-6,0%) and of the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air (-2,4%).
The data of our major European competitors is no better, on the contrary. The industrial production in France in fact, it retreated by 0,3% per month in March, despite the rebound in energy, water and the extractive sector. The consensus of economists who expected an increase of 0,5% was clearly disappointed. Also in Germany industrial production fell by a seasonally adjusted 1,3% versus an expected -0,2%. In February, industrial production fell by 0,7% (data revised from the initial -0,5%). However, this data does not undermine the country's economic growth expectations in the first quarter.
