ROME, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Italy's economy snapped a streak of 14 consecutive economic quarters of positive -- even if usually sluggish -- economic growth in the third quarter of the year after the country's gross domestic product contracted 0.1 percent.
According to the country's National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), growth was hindered by a "marked contraction in investments and a slight decrease in (domestic) consumption," and jobless rates remained high while corporate profits shrank.
If the trend continues through the end of the year as expected, 2018 will mark the 14th consecutive year economic growth in Italy trailed that of the European Union as a whole. The buying power of Italians is now 6 percentage points lower than it was a decade ago.
"What is happening now is part of a larger trend that has been happening for a long time," Andrea Ciarini, an economic sociologist with the Department of Social and Economic Sciences at Rome's La Sapienza University, told Xinhua. "There is a crisis now because the situation is intensifying. But these problems are not new."
Ciarini pointed out that the lack of economic innovation has became a main problem for Italy, driving many of the country's most capable citizens to move abroad in search of work.
"The economy is dominated by small and medium-sized companies that can be overly cautious in their decision making," Ciarini said. "Unlike some countries, Italy does not suffer from a lack of capable workers. But it suffers from a lack of demand for those workers."
The ISTAT report comes amid other negative economic indicators. Earlier this month, data showed consumer confidence had flattened in recent months. The main indexes on the Italian Stock Exchange in Milan have all lost at least 15 percent of their value so far this year, while government bond yields have climbed dramatically, reflecting rising investor nervousness.
Taking a wider angle on the country's economic health, the socio-economic research institute Censis released the 52nd edition of its "Report on the Social Situation in Italy," which painted a bleak picture of Italy as a country plagued by geographical divisions, poor economic prospects and an aging population.
"In more than half a century of previous reports on the social situation Censis has produced, this one is probably the most pessimistic," Massimiliano Valerii, Censis' general director, said in an interview. "It is not that the country did not have problems in the past. But Italy now finds itself at an epic crossroads."
Valerii said the long-term trends for the country produced a kind of "national bitterness" that leaves many Italians eager to place blame for their problems on others. He said three in four Italians see immigrants to the country as a negative factor. Two in three, he said, believe the situation in Italy will decline in the future. Only about one in five trusts the government.
Additionally, social mobility -- the ability for a person to rise from one economic class to another through better education and hard work -- is seen as near its lowest point ever.
"There is a kind of rancor in Italy that is guiding national decision making, but that will not be an effective way to confront the problems the country has," Valerii said.
