Italy continued moderate recovery in Q1

(ANSA) - Rome, April 5 - Italy's economic recovery looks to have continued at a moderate pace in the first quarter of 2016 despite a marked "deceleration" in Istat's composite indicator in January, the national statistics agency said on Tuesday in its monthly statement on the economic situation. "The composite leading indicator for Italian economy stays positive, suggesting the continuation of the slight growth also for the first quarter in 2016," Istat said. "The current situation of the Italian economy shows elements of uncertainty on the supply side. On the demand side the steady growth of consumption is accompanied by a slight recovery in investment". It added that, following a slight increase in the unemployment rate in February (up to 11.7%) and a fall in the number of employed people, "moderately positive signals for coming months come from the expectations of entrepreneurs in March (for the coming quarter), which were up in the manufacturing and retail sectors and stable in construction and services".