PARIS, Mar 8 (Reuters) – France’s economy is expected to grow by around 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023 after growing by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022, the central bank said on Wednesday.
The Bank of France said firms polled in its monthly business confidence survey reported activity in February was stronger in the manufacturing and service sectors than in January and was broadly stable in construction.
For March, companies expected further improvement in the services and industrial sectors but a slight decline in construction, the central bank said.
Meanwhile, construction supply chain issues eased significantly, with just 24% of companies citing it as a problem in February, down from 31% in January. In the industrial sector, the situation stabilized in February, where the rate remained at 33%.
For March, companies expect sales prices to fall further in construction, services and industry, with the exception of the agri-food sector, where every third company reported price increases in February. This ratio could reach over 40% in March.
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The number of companies with staffing problems remained high at 52% in February after four straight months of decline, according to the central bank.
Reporting by Dominique Vidalon Editing by Bernadette Baum
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