Monthly report on Italian economy no

Perspectives for international trade remain negative due to persistent trade tensions and decelerating economic activity in China.

In the second quarter of 2019, Italian GDP was stable with respect to both the previous quarter and the same quarter of previous year as the result of a decrease of value added in industry and an increase in services.

In June, the seasonally adjusted industrial production index declined marginally compared with the previous month after the strong increase of May.

In the labour market, after the growth observed in the previous months, in June the estimate of employed people remained stable but the unemployment rate decreased to its lowest value since January 2012. However, the gap with the euro area average remained unchanged.

Last month, inflation continued to decelerate, driven by the energy component. The negative gap with the average inflation of the euro area and the main European partners widened further.

In July, the consumer confidence index showed a strong broad based improvement and also the business confidence improved in all sectors but manufacturing.

The leading indicator interrupted its decreasing trend, suggesting that Italian economy will improve marginally in the coming months.