Italy in period of stagnation - Istat

(see related stories on unemployment) (ANSA) - Rome, July 31 - Italy's recovery from its longest postwar recession is turning out to be harder than expected and the country's economy is currently enduring a phase of "stagnation", national statistics agency Istat said Thursday. Italy posted positive growth for the first time in over two years in the last quarter of 2013, with a 0.1% rise in GDP, but that increase was reversed in the first three months of this year.
    "The recovery of economic growth is more difficult than had been forecast," Istat said in its monthly statement.
    "The signals coming from households and companies seem to depict a phase of substantial stagnation in economic activity, although there are some positive signals on employment".