French business growth slows
There was mixed news for France yesterday as business leaders signalled a slight decline in the economic outlook, in spite of positive growth figures released by Markit (see left). While the French Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose above the Eurozone average in November, the INSEE business climate index fell to 100 points, down from 104 in the previous month, and not in line with its long-term average. The fall “suggests some deceleration in the pace of the recovery” according to Laurence Boone of Barclays Capital Research.