Italy Beats Expectations

Italy’s industrial production beat expectations to rise by 2.8% in May compared to the same period last year, national statistics agency ISTAT reported. Industrial production rose by 0.7% in May compared to April, by 0.2% in March-May compared to the previous quarter, and by 1.7% in the first five months of the year over the same period in 2016, ISTAT said, Xinhua reported. There was a marked rise in production of capital goods, up 5.9%, followed by consumer goods up 2.5%, energy up 1%, and intermediate goods increasing 0.4%. The best-performing sector was transportation vehicle manufacturing with a 7.3% growth and the worst-performing sector was mining, dropping 18.8%, according to ISTAT.