France: Consumer confidence inches up in March
Consumer confidence recovered further in March, according to the consumer confidence survey published by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which climbed 1 point from February to land at 96 points. Despite the improvement, the survey remained below the 100-point threshold—its long-term average—for a tenth consecutive month.
March’s uptick was relatively broad-based as consumers’ anxieties over their personal finances eased somewhat, although concerns over unemployment arose once again. Moreover, consumers’ expected standard of living over the short-term was roughly unchanged. Inflation expectations, for their part, took a breather.