French Industrial Production Falls Again in December
French industrial production fell for the second consecutive month in December, putting a stop to the recovery from the coronavirus-driven drop recorded in the spring, data from statistics agency Insee showed Wednesday.
Total industrial output–comprising output in manufacturing, energy and construction–fell 0.8% in December compared with November. Economists had forecast a 0.4% increase in December, according to a poll by The Wall Street Journal.
Insee also upwardly revised the on-month industrial production figure for November to a 0.7% decline, from a 0.9% drop previously.
Compared with February–the last month before the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe–total industrial output was down 4.9% in December in calendar-adjusted terms.
Manufacturing output was down 1.7% in December compared with the previous month and construction fell 8.7%, while energy production rose 4.3%.
Source: Dow Jones