Financial News: French Manufacturing Confidence At 4-Month Low

French Manufacturing Confidence At 4-Month Low

03/26/2026 - 07:08:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - French manufacturing sentiment weakened to a four-month low in March largely due to lower past production and order book levels, survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed Thursday.

The manufacturing confidence index fell to 99 in March from 102 in February. The score was forecast to drop to 100. This was the lowest since November.

The balances of opinion associated with the level of order books both global and foreign, decreased again. The one relating to foreign order books plunged to -14 from -8 and the one on global orders slid to -19 from -17.

The balance of opinion on economic uncertainty felt by business leaders declined to 31 from 32.

The indicator for personal production expectations fell to 8 from 10 and that for general production outlook slid to -9 from -6.

At the same time, the current level of finished goods inventories increased again, to 14 from 9 in the previous month.

Evolution of workforce size, both past and expected, rebounded in March. The index for past workforce size climbed to -1 from -5 and the expected workforce size climbed to zero from -2.

The index measuring the expected trend in selling prices over the next three months increased to 9 from 5 in the previous month.

Further, the survey showed that the overall business confidence index, which is calculated from the responses of the business managers from manufacturing, construction, services, retail and wholesale trade, remained stable in March. The index remained unchanged at 97 in March.

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