Italian consumers and manufacturers more downbeat in February

Italian consumers and businesses took different views on the economic outlook in February, with the former falling sharply while improved sentiment for construction gave a boost to the latter.

The Italian statistics office´s, ISTAT´s, index of consumer sentiment fell from a reading of 118.6 in January to 114.5 in February.

A sub-index measuring how they assessed the economic climate decreased from 152.4 to 141.8, while another that tracks their expectations for themselves retreated from 127.1 to 120.5.

The composite IESI business climate index improved from 101.4 to 103.1, as a sub-index linked to construction firms jumped from 114.6 to 119.3.

However, another sub-index linked to manufacturing firms dipped from 103.0 to 102.0.