Italian 0.6% 'deflation' rate confirmed - update 2

(ANSA) - Rome, February 20 - National statistics agency Istat on Friday confirmed its preliminary estimate that Italy returned to deflation in January with an annual inflation rate of -0.6% - the lowest level since September 1959. The annual inflation rate was flat in December. Italy also endured several months of deflation last year.
    Low or negative inflation is seen as a threat to the recovery prospects of Italy, which is trying to bounce back from years of recession. Istat added that prices were 0.4% down in January with respect to December.
    The agency said almost all of Italy's major cities were in price deflation in January. The exceptions were Bolzano, which had an annual inflation rate of 0.3%, and Parma, where prices were flat with respect to the same month in 2014. All the other cities with over 150,000 inhabitants had negative annual inflation rates, going from Palermo (-0.1) to Florence (-1.1%). Istat said that its annual index for the prices of everyday goods such as food and household items was flat in January, after registering a fall in December.
    It said the prices of everyday goods were 0.5% up in January compared to the previous month.