India, Feb. 12 -- Italy's industrial production contracted sharply in December on widespread declines across sectors except energy, the statistical office ISTAT reported Wednesday. Industrial output registered a monthly fall of 3.1 percent, which was the first drop in three months and much bigger than the expected drop of 0.1 percent. This follows a 0.3 percent rise in November.
All components of production except energy contracted in December. Production of consumer goods and capital goods slid 3.3 percent each. Intermediate goods output eased 3.6 percent. Meanwhile, energy production gained 0.9 percent.
On a yearly basis, the decline in calendar-adjusted industrial production deepened to 7.1 percent from 1.6 percent in November.
On una...