Italy growth slows in third quarter

MILAN: Italy’s economic growth rate slowed to 0.2 percent in the third quarter after expansion of 0.5 percent in the second quarter, the national statistics agency ISTAT said on Friday. The rate was half the analyst consensus forecast of 0.4 percent. “The 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter increase was marginally weaker than expected,” said Loredana Federico, an economist at Italy’s Unicredit bank, which had forecast a result of of 0.3 percent. But Federico said the result was “overall in line with our expectations of a moderation in economic activity in the second half of the year.” GDP grew by 1.0 percent on a 12-month comparison, according to the preliminary estimates released by ISTAT. afp

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