France: Business confidence stabilizes in January
In January, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies’ (INSEE) business-climate indicator for the manufacturing sector was stable from a month earlier at 103 points. As a result, the indicator remained above the 100-point long-run average—INSEE’s benchmark measure which distinguishes improvement of the business environment.
January’s print reflected firms’ improved views on past output, which offset deteriorating assessments of current export orders and anticipated workforce size. Overall, firms remained pessimistic on the manufacturing sector’s output prospects.