Industry, production down in February for the second consecutive month
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In February, the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production decreased by 0.2% compared to January. Istat estimates it, explaining that on average for the December-February quarter, however, the level of production increases by 0.3% compared to the previous three months.
Corrected for calendar effects, in February the overall index decreased in trend terms by 2.3 per cent. Moreover, there were 20 calendar working days as in February 2022. «In February – comments Istat – there was, for the second consecutive month, a cyclical decline in the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production. The negative tone of February is widespread in the main sectors, with the exclusion of energy. However, the overall economic trend remains positive on average over the last three months. In trend terms, net of calendar effects, the change for the general index is negative. Looking at the main groupings of industries, widespread declines are observed (excluding capital goods), more marked for energy and intermediate goods».
In particular, continues Istat, the seasonally adjusted monthly index grows on a cyclical basis only for energy (+0.2%); on the other hand capital goods (-0.9%), consumer goods (-0.7%) and intermediate goods (-0.3%) decreased. On a trend level, increases are recorded only for capital goods (+3.2%); on the other hand, consumer goods (-1.4%), intermediate goods (-6.2%) and energy (-7.4%) decreased.
Among the sectors of economic activity, the production of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations shows a marked growth trend (+19.6%), followed by the manufacture of machinery and equipment (+3.8%) and the manufacture of means of transport (+3.3%). The largest declines are recorded in the wood, paper and printing industries (-15.9%), in the manufacture of chemical products (-9.1%) and in the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air ( -7.9%).
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