Employees work at a ceramics factory where the workers start their shifts before dawn to optimise sunlight and save energy, in Citta di Castello, Italy, August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

ROME (Reuters) -Italian industrial output rebounded 2.8% in September after a 2.7% drop in August, data showed on Wednesday, offering some hope to the country's long-struggling manufacturing sector.

A Reuters survey of 12 analysts had pointed to a 1.5% increase.

On a work day-adjusted year-on-year basis, industrial output in the euro zone's third largest economy rose 1.5% in September, national statistics agency ISTAT said. That compared to a forecast of an 0.5% decrease and followed a 3.0% fall in August.

The month-on-month and year-on-year rises in September were the steepest respectively since August 2022 and January 2023.

September's sharp rebound "should be taken with a pinch of salt" since it reflected summer volatility on the back of August's plunge which was affected by factory closures, said Paolo Pizzoli, senior economist at ING.

However Italian think tank Prometeia and ING both forecast that the picture might improve somewhat in the fourth quarter.

A purchasing managers' survey of the manufacturing sector last week signalled stagnation in October.

Italian gross domestic product in the euro zone's third largest economy stagnated in the July to September quarter from the previous three months, narrowly avoiding recession.

Rome last month marginally lowered its forecast for GDP growth this year to 0.5% from an April projection of 0.6%.

(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, editing by Giulia Segreti, Gavin Jones)