Q2 2023. Production and exports slow down. Signs of a slowdown in the labour market

The signs of an economic slowdown seen between the end of 2022 and the early months of 2023 strengthened during the second quarter of the year. In fact, industrial production in Tuscany shrank by 5.5% compared to the same period in 2022. A strong contribution to the contraction in production came from the weakening of the boost exerted by foreign demand, with exports substantially stable compared to the second quarter of 2022. Moreover, the growth in foreign sales was concentrated in a few sectors, dominated by large companies, thus weakening the potential for transmission of international demand to the rest of the system. In the labour market, despite both the cyclical and tendential increase in the number of employees, a drop in demand is observed with the decrease in start-ups and the contraction of conversions to permanent contracts remaining at the same level as in Q2 2022. The positive result is exclusively due to stable contracts, which are growing due to the decrease in terminations, with a slight decrease in fixed-term contracts. (…)