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Italy's manufacturing sector contracted for the sixth successive month in August, although it did so at a slightly slower pace than had been the case in the previous two months.
Italian growth is going to be "near zero'' this year amid the worst global financial crisis since World War II, according to Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti earlier today.
Italian consumer confidence bounced back in August from a 15-year low in July as oil prices fell from record highs. The Rome-based Isae Institute's index, calculated from a survey of 2,000 families, rose to 99.5 from 95.8 last month.
This is one of a series of extraordinarily detailed blogs with enormous amounts of hard data from credible sources. The commentary is clear and seems quite balanced and rational. It is fabulous having such an excellent source of economic data from countries other than the US or the UK in English!
