France: Industrial output shrinks at the fastest pace ever recorded in March
Seasonally- and working-day-adjusted industrial production fell 16.2% over the previous month in March, contrasting February’s 0.8% increase and marking the sharpest rate of contraction in the index’s history. All sub-components shrank dramatically as a result of the lockdown measures enacted by the government to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
Similarly, on an annual basis, industrial production dropped 17.3% (February: -1.7% year-on-year), while the annual average variation in industrial output logged minus 1.7%, down from February’s minus 0.3%.