France's business climate surprisingly clouded over
The mood in French companies clouded over in February against the background of persistently high new infections in the corona crisis. The index value for the business climate fell to 90 points, as the Insee statistics office announced. Economists were surprised by the development. They had expected an average of 92 points. In addition, the sentiment indicator for January was revised downwards.
The index value was only 91 points in the previous month and not as previously reported at 92 points, it said. Before the setback at the start of the year, the mood in companies tended to recover from the corona slump last spring. In April the index value fell to a record low of 54 points.
The mood of those surveyed in the industry was comparatively robust. Here the index value for February was significantly higher at 97 points. However, the value for January has also been revised downwards in industry, from 98 points previously to just 96 points.
As Insee also announced, the business climate deteriorated in the services and retail sectors in February. Both areas will be hit particularly hard by the measures taken to contain the pandemic. In the construction industry, however, the respondents were confident, it said.
