Italian industrial production races past forecasts in May

Industrial production in Italy raced past forecasts in May with output of capital goods strongest.

Total industrial production grew by 0.7% month-on-month, according to ISTAT.

In comparison to a year-ago, industrial output was 2.8% ahead.

Economists had forecast a rise of 0.4% versus April.

On a month-on-month basis, production of capital goods jumped by 2.3%, while that of intermediate ones slipped by 0.4% and energy output declined by 1.0%.

Production of consumer goods was up by just 0.2% versus the prior month, but that masked a sharp increase of 2.7% in the output of durable goods which was offset by a 0.2% decline in production of non-durable consumer goods.

Manufacturing sector output was 0.9% higher than in April and 3.1% stronger than in the comparable period one year ago.