A Look Under the Hood Makes Italy’s Slump Less Severe

(Bloomberg) -- For a while all the news from Italy has been doom and gloom -- that’s no longer the case, according to Bloomberg Economics. The underlying state of the economy doesn’t seem to have been as weak at the end of last year as it initially appeared: the contraction was driven by an inventory adjustment, while household consumption and fixed investment expanded. Survey data is pointing to some improvement as the first quarter progresses.

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