Industrial output slid 1.2 percent compared to April in a sign of the precarious nature of Italy's return to growth as production flagged across the board with the exception of energy, the national statistics agency, Istat, said.
Analysts had forecast a 0.1 percent increase in the eurozone's third largest economy following strong output results in March and April. While energy rose 0.8 percent, investment goods were down 1.7 percent and consumer and intermediate goods dropped 1.5 percent.
Italy ranks third as a eurozone economy, after Germany and France and it has struggled to pull away from a deep two-year recession.
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