Thursday, February 20, 2014

Italy December orders fall on weak domestic demand

ROME--Italian industrial orders fell sharply in December, mainly due to a decline in orders from domestic firms, casting a shadow over hopes of an economic recovery after the worst postwar recession.

Orders declined 4.9% from November in seasonally adjusted terms, national statistics institute Istat said Thursday.

Domestic orders dropped 6.4%, while foreign orders fell 2.6% from November, according to Istat.

"There's no doubt that the overall drop is due to the internal market," said an Istat official.

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Italian industrial sales shed 0.3% in December from November, with foreign sales decreasing 1.4% and domestic sales adding 0.3%, Istat added, using seasonally adjusted figures.

Italian industrial orders, however, rose 1.9% in December from the same month a year earlier, Istat said, citing unadjusted figures. Foreign orders drove the gain, rising 3.2%, while domestic orders climbed 1.1%.

Sales fell 0.6% from December 2012, with a 2.1% drop in domestic sales and a 2.8% gain in foreign sales, Istat said, using workday-adjusted figures.

Write to Liam Moloney at liam.moloney@wsj.com

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