France: Industrial output drops at sharpest rate since April in December
Industrial output slid 0.8% in month-on-month seasonally-adjusted terms in December, following November’s 0.7% decrease. December’s result marked the worst reading since April. December’s sharper drop was partly driven by a sharper contraction in manufacturing production which fell at the sharpest pace in eight months. In addition, mining and quarrying output also declined.
On an annual basis, industrial output fell at a softer pace of 3.0% in December (November: -4.5% yoy), marking the best result since February. Meanwhile, annual average variation of industrial production came in at minus 10.3% in December, mirroring November’s figure.