After ten consecutive months of declining business activity, the French economy stabilised at the start of the second quarter, with private sector output levels broadly unchanged from those seen in March. Notably, services activity increased for the first time since May 2023, although this was counteracted to some extent by an accelerated decline in manufacturing production. New business volumes fell further, albeit to the weakest extent across the current one-year contraction. Exports exerted a sharper negative influence on overall sales, however. More benign trends in output and new orders coincided with the ... (full story)