Unemployment Rate to 8.5% on Economic Outlook, First Decline in Six Months
Italian joblessness declined in June for the first time in six months amid growing confidence in the economic recovery after the euro’s depreciation boosted exports.
The unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 8.5 percent from a revised 8.6 percent in May, Rome-based national statistics office Istat said today. That beat the median forecast of 8.8 percent by 7 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
Italian business confidence advanced to a two-year high in July after the economy returned to growth and exports benefited from the euro’s decline. The euro has depreciated 9 percent this year, making Fiat SpA cars and Luxottica Group SpA sunglasses cheaper abroad. Italian industrial production rose in May and consumer optimism grew for the first time in three months in July as the economic outlook brightened.
Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear maker, said this week that second-quarter net income rose 30 percent. Mediaset SpA, the broadcaster of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said yesterday that first-half profit gained 34 percent on higher advertising sales in Italy and Spain.
Italy’s inactivity rate, which measures the number of unemployed who are not seeking work, held at a seasonally adjusted 37.6 percent in June, Istat said today. The number of people actively looking for work fell by 1.1 percent.
European joblessness held at 10 percent for a fourth month in July, matching the highest rate since August 1998, data showed today. European companies may have more scope to raise prices and add workers in coming months as the economy shows signs of weathering a Greece-led fiscal crisis that prompted austerity measures by governments across the continent.
Italy’s Chamber of Deputies gave final approval yesterday to 25 billion euros ($32.5 billion) in cuts to the budget gap that are part of the European effort to tame deficits and protect the single currency. The package aims to lower the shortfall below the European Union’s ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 2012.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeffrey Donovan in Rome at jdonovan26@bloomberg.net
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