French Manufacturing Confidence Remains Stable In December

(RTTNews) - The confidence among French manufacturers held steady in December after showing some recovery trends in the previous month, monthly data from the statistical office INSEE revealed Thursday.

The manufacturing sentiment index stood at 97 in December, the same as in November. Further, the index remained below its long-term average of 100. The expected score was 96.0.

The balances of opinion on order books have increased again, but all those relating to production have decreased, the survey said.

The index measuring personal production expectations turned negative and fell to -1.0 in December from +5.0 in the previous month. Producers' past production situation also worsened to -9.0 from -7 in November.

Meanwhile, the index measuring overall order books increased somewhat to -18 from -21.

The survey showed that general production expectations were more negative in December, with the relevant index falling to -19 from -14 a month ago.

The sub-index for the expected trend in selling prices in the next three months decreased to 2.0 in December from 3.0 in the previous month.

The overall business confidence index, which comprises the responses of business leaders from sectors such as manufacturing, construction, services, retail trade, and wholesale trade, deteriorated further in December, with the measure falling to 94 from 96 in November. The employment climate index also declined to 96 from 98.