French Manufacturing Sentiment Weakens In May

(RTTNews) - France's manufacturing confidence weakened in May on deteriorating global orders and personal production expectations, survey data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Thursday.

The manufacturing sentiment index dropped to 97 in May from 100 in April. The score was forecast to improve to 99.

The survey showed that the decrease in the climate mainly comes from the retreat in the balances of opinion on personal production prospects and on global order books.

The personal production outlook plunged to -1 from +12 in April. Meanwhile, general production outlook rose moderately to -13 from -15.

The balance of opinion associated with the level of global order books strongly retreated in May. The corresponding index slid to -24 from -18. By contrast, the index for foreign order books rose slightly to -16 from -17.

The balance of opinion on the current level of finished-goods inventories slightly increased to 9 from 8.

The index measuring the expected trend in selling prices over the next three months dropped to 6 from 7.

The balance of opinion on the past evolution of workforce size increased for the third consecutive month. The index posted -1 compared to -2 a month ago.

The one associated with the expected evolution of workforce size decreased slightly with the balance falling to -2 from -1.

The survey showed that economic uncertainty felt by business leaders increased again. The indicator posted 32, up from 29 in the prior month.

The overall business confidence index, which comprises the responses of business leaders from sectors such as manufacturing, construction, services, retail trade, and wholesale trade, dropped in May. The index fell marginally to 96 from 97 in April.