«The return will be longer than expected»- Corriere.it

Inflation will come down more slowly than expected. This was stated by Istat in the Note on the performance of the Italian economy in February, emphasizing that “a path of return of inflation is beginning to take longer than initially foreseen”. The Italian GDP in the fourth quarter of 2022, marked a slight negative economic change as a synthesis of the positive contribution of net foreign demand and the negative one of domestic demand net of inventories. «The international scenario remains characterized by a high degree of uncertainty and downside risks. A longer inflation recovery path than initially expected is starting to emerge», Istat points out.

In January, the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production, after the sharp rise of the previous month, decreased in cyclical terms by 0.7% with discordant signals among the main industrial groupings, adds Istat. The labor market confirmed its improvement also in January. The number of employees has exceeded pre-pandemic levels while the self-employed still remain below the average values ​​of 2019. In February, based on the preliminary estimate, consumer price inflation continued to slow down. The differential for the harmonized index of consumer prices (Ipca) between Italy and the euro area, while remaining positive, decreased further. In February, the climate of consumer confidence improved again while that of businesses, after having increased for three consecutive months, stabilized, concludes Istat.