The survey conducted in June 2017 on a sample of Italian firms with 50 or more employees suggests a strengthening of the recovery under way since the end of 2016, with a positive balance between reports of improvement and deterioration in the general economic situation. Consumer price inflation expectations have risen across all time horizons, probably also influenced by the temporary acceleration recorded in April, which was the most recent data available at the time of the survey.
In all sectors firms indicate an increase in demand for their products; in construction, positive assessments prevail for the first time since last year, driven by the non-residential sector. For the next quarter, firms expect an improvement in the conditions in which they will be operating, along with a better outlook for demand; however, demand is not expected to exert any significant pressure on selling prices. Firms estimate that their selling prices will increase over the next twelve months at a quicker pace than that recorded in the previous survey, but will remain subdued.
The assessment of investment conditions has markedly improved; the investment expenditure planned for 2017 is greater than that of the previous year for all sectors, with a higher growth in the second quarter. Employment expectations have further improved, in particular for industry excluding construction.
