Italian industrial output falls for second consecutive month

Rome, Dec 18 (IANS/AKI) Italy’s industrial output fell in October for the second consecutive month, signalling that the country’s export-led economy is having difficulty emerging from last year’s deep recession.

Production fell 0.1 percent from September, when it dropped 2.1 percent, Rome-based state statistics agency ISTAT said Friday.

Adjusted for a different number of working days, October industrial production jumped 13.3 percent from the same period in 2009 when the country’s economy shrank 5.1 percent amid the deepest recession in more than 60 years.

Italy’s largest business association Thursday lowered its 2010 growth forecast as a rebound from last year’s recession has been slower than expected. Confindustria expects the Italian economy this year to expand only 1 percent, compared to its prior 1.2 percent growth expectation.

The group also cut its forecast for next year’s gross domestic product growth to 1.1 percent rather than the previously expected 1.3 percent.

–IANS/AKI