ROME: Italy’s unemployment rate fell slightly in May as the labor market braces for an expected economic slowdown in the euro region. Unemployment dropped to 11.5 percent from a revised 11.6 percent in April, national statistics agency Istat said Friday in Rome. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts called for 11.7 percent in May. The jobless drop comes as Italy awaits the fallout from the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union.
Industrial production in Italy likely fell last month, the country’s business lobby Confindustria said on Tuesday. It added that the rise in the manufacturing confidence recorded by Istat in June does not take into account the effects of the U.K. vote to exit the European Union as the survey was conducted in the first half of the month.