ROME (Reuters) - Italian manufacturing activity declined for the 14th month running in November and at roughly the same rate as the month before, a survey showed on Monday, suggesting the economy will continue to struggle in the near term.
The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 47.6 from 47.7 in October, remaining clearly below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
A Reuters survey of 10 analysts had pointed to 47.5
IHS Markit said its subindex for new orders at manufacturers declined to 46.7 from 47.1 in October, but the sub-indexes for manufacturing output and employment both rose.
The euro zone's third-largest economy has been broadly stagnant for the last seven quarters, and economists expect growth to be only marginally above zero over the whole of this year.
Gross domestic product rose 0.1% in the third quarter from the previous three months and was up 0.3% on a year-on-year basis, statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Thursday.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans)
