France: Business confidence rises to six-month high in September, albeit remains below long-term average
Business confidence climbed to 96 in September, up from August’s 93, marking the best result since March. Although the index improved for the fifth consecutive month, it still remained below the 100-threshild, which represents its long-term average.
With regards to demand, manufacturers’ perception of new orders as well as new export orders turned less pessimistic in September; however, remained entrenched in negative territory. With regards to staffing, employment intentions improved from August, but still remained pessimistic. Moreover, firms’ general production expectations turned less pessimistic compared to the previous month.