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Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as France’s economy contracts by 0.1% in the last quarter

Breaking: French GDP fell 0.1% in Q4
Household spending slows, inventories shrink

8.10am GMT
European economists are disappointed to see that France’s economy has contracted.
UBS’s Filip Lipev says the GDP data is worst than expected, due to weak domestic demand....and a bad start to the day.
#France's GDP unexpectedly contracts by 0.1% in Q4 (vs. +0.2% expected), after an expansion by 0.3% in Q3. Thus, full-year GDP growth came in at 1.2% in 2019, down from 1.7% in 2018. Factors include slower #domestic demand and negative impact from #net #exports. #badstartofday
#France GDP contracted by -0.1% in Q4 2019 after +0.3% q/q in Q3. Massive destocking explains the counter performance as well as strikes cost -0.1pp. Overall, political uncertainty cost -0.2% pp to French GDP in 2019. We expect French GDP to grow by 1.2% y/y in 2020, as in 2019.
7.43am GMT
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
France’s economy has suffered a shock contraction, raising fresh concerns about the heart of the Eurozone — on the day Britain leaves the EU.
Uh-oh! #France's economy unexpectedly decreased in Q4. #GDP -0.1%, first decline since Q2 2016. pic.twitter.com/sjJNMcLi7G
Household consumption expenditures slowed down slightly (+0.2% after +0.4%), and total gross fixed capital formation decelerated in a more pronounced manner (GFCF: +0.3% after +1.3%). Overall, final domestic demand excluding inventory changes slowed down compared with the previous quarter: it contributed to +0.3 points to GDP growth, after +0.7 points.
Imports fell back this quarter (–0.2% after +0.6%) as well as exports (–0.2% after –0.3%). All in all, the contribution of foreign trade balance to GDP growth was zero, after a negative contribution (–0.3 points) in the previous quarter. Changes in inventories contributed negatively to GDP growth (–0.4 points after –0.1 points). Continue reading...