Tuscany’s small strides towards economic development this year may not be enough to help the local economy recover. The economic reality was discussed this morning at the annual IRPET Conference, the Institute for Economic Planning of Tuscany, at the Auditorium al Duomo.

The researchers’ hopeful outlook for Tuscany’s weakened economy was fueled by the idea that Italy is facing more of an identity crisis than an economic one. The 2016-2017 report explains economic trends throughout the region, and sectors that have had a positive or negative market year. It also assessed the effects that national and European markets have on Italian markets, and whether or not the minimal progression in job markets and consumerism is enough to save Italy from economic doom.

A slow future growth was projected by the researchers. They discussed the inability to create more jobs, making the job market even more challenging to expand. The lack of investments in the local economy hasn’t given way to any growth, either, and families and consumers are taking less risks in their spending habits overall. Household consumptions did increase over 2016, but disposable income was on a decline, giving researchers reason to firmly root themselves in their beliefs of Italy’s slow development out of economic standstill.

Tuscany raised their level of GDP in 2016 by 0.2%, but their world trade has slowed to an increase of only 0.5%. According to several charts, their was no indication of stability in any of the economic sectors broken down by the researchers, emphasizing the fragility of the Italian market right now. Poverty was also on the rise last year, with a recorded 53,000 families and 120,000 individuals, a majority of which are youth.

Presently, the losses Italy is facing are becoming overwhelmingly apparent. Last year, the unemployment rate was higher than the employment rate in the country, and while debts some to have decreased slightly, financial stability remains unclear. Between 2008 and 2015 there were “only” 3000 job losses in Tuscany, though at the start of 2016, an additional 7,400 were added. While this is a definite incline in the job sector, the impact was not nearly enough to compensate for the huge amount of losses throughout the past few years.

The good news is that the economy is making very slow, but relatively positive steps towards achieving stability. However, the only way to salvage what is left of the Italian economic standing is by creating investments, and focusing on achieving an equilibrium between what is important and what is necessary.