Italian unemployment increases in October, output rises in November

Italian unemployment increases in October, output rises in November

12-02-2009 10:44

The Italian seasonally corrected unemployment rate climbed to 8% in October, while September showed a 7.8% level, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Istat) reported today. It was the first monthly report regarding joblessness released by Istat. October’s unemployment rate is the highest since late 2004. The jobless rate climbed 2% in comparison to September, while it rose 13.4% in the yearly comparison.

Italian unemployment rate

Marco Valli, economist at Unicredit MIB in Milan, commented: “Tuesday’s figures prove that the pace of rising joblessness accelerates .” He expects unemployment to increase further in the next months.

Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)

Eurostat reported previously today that the seasonally corrected unemployment rate in October, 9.8%, corresponded with September’s rate. The Federal Labor Agency in Germany reported that the seasonally corrected unemployment rate for November weakened to 8.1%, while it stood at 8.2% in October.
A Purchasing Managers Index reading above 50% indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50% indicates that it’s generally contracting. The operating environment across the manufacturing economy improved for the first time since February 2008.

Manufacturing

In November, Italy’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) climbed to a seasonally corrected 50.1 in comparison to 49.2 in October, according to figures by Markit Economics and ADACI. A reading of 50 was forecasted by economists.

Output

In November, Italian manufacturing climbed for the twenty-sixth month. In the mean time, new orders increased in domestic and foreign markets. For the first time since the start of last year, export orders rose.
“The recovery of Italy’s output had been behind the German and French recovery. However, the pace of the Italian recovery accelerated because producers have been favored by increasing demand in the euro zone and beyond,” according to Andrew Self, economist at Markit Economics.