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| - Italy's industrial production, which plunged during coronavirus lockdowns, built upon its recovery in June, but it still remains nearly 14 percent lower than last year, the national statistics agency Istat said Thursday. After having jumped 41.6 percent month-on-month in May, it climbed by 8.2 percent in June. "All sectors grew over the month except for pharmaceutical components... which dipped slightly," Istat said. "While recovering, the level of production is still far from prevailing levels before emergency health measures; compared with January, production is down by more than 13 percent," it added. There were big monthly gains in the manufacturing of transport equipment and textiles, two sectors which still remain down more than a quarter from last year. Industrial output began to fall even before Italy went into lockdown in March when most non-essential businesses were shut. In April, output was down 43.4 percent compared to a year earlier when auto manufacturing was halted nearly completely. Italy's economy -- the third largest in the eurozone -- is expected to contract by nine to 14 percent this year, according to forecasts by various institutions and experts. cco/rl/spm
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