PARIS, Nov 8 (Reuters) – France’s economic recovery will weaken in the fourth quarter, with most businesses continuing to improve despite ongoing supply chain and staffing difficulties, the French central bank said on Monday.
The second largest economy in the euro area will grow 0.75% in the fourth quarter, the Bank of France said in its monthly economic outlook, citing its business sentiment survey.
The official statistics agency INSEE announced last week that the economy grew by 3.0% in the third quarter, beating the Bank of France’s forecast of 2.3% as the economy returned to pre-crisis activity levels faster than expected .
Companies that responded to the business confidence survey expected business conditions to improve further this month in the services sector – by far France’s largest – and to cool somewhat in the industrial and construction sectors.
The proportion of managers in industry who reported supply problems stabilized at 56% from October, and in the automotive sector the proportion was even 86%. In the construction sector, it fell for the first time in months, falling from 62% in October to 58%.
Meanwhile, the number of companies reporting difficulties in recruiting workers fell from 54% to 49%, led by the service sector, where it fell from 57% to 50%. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas editing by Peter Graff)
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