Italian industrial production dropped unexpectedly by 0.6 per cent in May from the April level, defying economists’ expectations of a slight increase, according to official data.

The drop came after three months of strong growth in industrial production, including a jump of 1.1 per cent in April – a figure that had been revised up after initial forecasts of one per cent.

Economists had been expecting to see another slight rise of 0.1 per cent in May, according to a survey by Dow Jones Newswires.

On a year basis, Italy’s industrial production was up per cent in May, but was far off economists’ expectations of 2.7 per cent.

Consumer goods were down 0.9 per cent compared to April, while intermediate goods were down 0.2 per cent and capital goods down 0.1 per cent. On the other hand, energy production rose 2.2 per cent.