French Industry Sees Output Increase in December

French industry experienced a boost in output during December, providing some much-needed positivity amidst a period of sluggish activity within the wider euro area.

Data from statistics body Insee reveals that total industrial production rose by 1.1% from the previous month. This increase surpassed economists’ expectations of a 0.1% rise. However, it should be noted that Insee warned of potential distortion in the figures due to the unusual working-day totals resulting from school holidays. These anomalies were not accounted for in the standard seasonal-variation calculations and may have affected the monthly output development in certain sectors.

Despite this caveat, the rise in output follows a 0.5% increase in the previous month, indicating that production for the fourth quarter may exceed initial predictions. Notably, construction experienced the sharpest monthly rise at 3.0%, with growth also observed in transportation and the food industry. On the other hand, production of capital goods and the refining sector saw a decline compared to the previous month.

In contrast, production across the entire eurozone contracted for the third consecutive month in November. However, recent survey data reflects an improvement in sentiment which has fostered hopes of a potential industry recovery that could bolster the lackluster eurozone economy at the beginning of this year.