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Italy’s manufacturing sector shrank at the fastest rate in more than a year-and-a-half according to the Markit PMI.  The headline index of activity fell to 48.4 last month from 49 in December, where anything below 50 signals contractions. It was the lowest in 19 months and the third successive month of contraction.  Manufacturers shed staff at the fastest rate in more than a year-and-a-half. The one bright spot to the report was a continued growth of orders from abroad.

Phil Smith, economist at Markit:The manufacturing sector’s performance has deteriorated throughout the final quarter, with the PMI posting its worst reading for 19 months in December. Factories have cut back production amid falling intakes of new orders, particularly among domestic clients, and this trend looks set continue as new business fell to the greatest extent for over a year-and-half in December and backlogs were depleted sharply. Without the support from export sales, the situation would be worse still...

Mario Cuomo, the golden-tongued son of Italian immigrants who rode his liberal views and hard-nosed political acumen to the pinnacle of Democratic politics as New York’s governor but repeatedly shunned a run for the White House, died Thursday at the age of 82.