国际英语新闻：Berlusconi's hand strengthening even as problems continue

The figures, released by the Italian Statistics Institute, ISTAT, showed that the export led economic recovery Italy seemed to enjoy around mid-year has stalled.

The figures confirm what some 125,000 protesters, organized by leading labor union CGIL, claimed when they marched on the Italian capital over the weekend: that joblessness in Italy is getting worse not better.

The government has said its hands are tied in the short term, as it works to pass the country's 2011 budget and to assure its survival in a Dec. 14 confidence vote.

According to Berlusconi, his allies, and to pollsters chances are improving that the government may survive the do-or-die vote and perhaps even serve out the rest its mandate until 2013.

Polls show that despite the series of negative developments that Berlusconi's approval levels are inching higher from all- time lows in October.

The latest poll from the polling company Opinioni will not be released until the end of the week, but co-director Maria Rossi told Xinhua that indications were that Berlusconi's approval levels are "around 30 percent or perhaps slightly higher" -- mostly by virtue of winning over former supporters who counted themselves as undecided in recent weeks.

Berlusconi's all-time low was just under 25 percent support a month ago.