Istat data for May, inflation starts to fall again

In May, according to preliminary estimates, inflation starts to fall again, returning, after the rise recorded in April, to the level of March 2023 (+7.6%). Istat writes it underlining how “the slowdown still appears to be strongly influenced by the dynamics of the prices of energy goods, in particular of the unregulated component, which is decreasing on a cyclical basis”. In the food sector, the prices of processed products show an attenuation of their growth on an annual basis, which contributes to the deceleration of core inflation (down to +6.1%). Finally, the phase of slowdown in the trend growth of the prices of the “shopping cart” continues, which in May was +11.3%.

Growth estimates also improve. «The complete estimate of the quarterly income statements confirms the recovery of the Italian economy in the first quarter of 2023 after the setback at the end of 2022. At the beginning of the year, GDP growth was equal to 0.6% in cyclical terms and all 1.9% in trend terms. Both measures show an upward revision of 0.1 percentage points compared to the preliminary estimate at the end of April», underlines Istat. «The growth acquired for 2023 is also positive, equal to 0.9%. The recovery is due to domestic demand with positive contributions from private consumption for 0.3 percentage points and public consumption and investments both for 0.2 percentage points. On the other hand, the contributions of both inventories and net foreign demand were negative by 0.1 percentage points», adds Istat. “The hours worked are recovering by 1.3% in economic terms, by 0.8% by job positions and by 1.1% by work units, while per capita compensation of employees is stationary”, he concludes the Istat.