Industrial production declined by less than expected after a surge in the previous month. It fell 0.8 percent in September following a 1.8 percent increase in August, national statistics institute ISTAT reported.

Output during the period from July to September posted a healthy gain – 1.2 percent – after stagnating in the previous three months.

#Italy Industrial Production month-on-month at -0.8% https://t.co/CCkHTcR48l pic.twitter.com/HAQg6CYXo3

— Trading Economics (@tEconomics) 10 novembre 2016

The numbers are important because industrial output is closely linked to overall growth in Italy – which is the eurozone’s third largest economy.

The government expects GDP to have expanded by a lacklustre 0.8 percent this year, not much better than last year’s 0.7 percent.

Industrial output fell by around a quarter between 2008 and 2014, and has recovered only a small part of that over the last year. (Euronews)