France, industrial production falls more than expected in June (-1,6%)

The industrial production data for June really gave France a nasty surprise. According to Insee calculations, the drop was 1,6%, even one percentage point more than analysts' expectations, who had predicted a more manageable -0,6%. But that's not all. The "Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques" has in fact revised slightly downwards also the positive figure for May, which thus dropped from +2% to +1,9%. As for manufacturing production, which includes the agri-food sector but not the energy sector, the month-on-month decline was revised more heavily, from +1,4% to -1,9%.