Economics

French Economy Stays on Downward Trend at Start of 2019

Employees fix fittings to a Nissan Micra automobile inside the Renault SA factory in Flins, France, on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Carlos Ghosn, one of the auto industry's most celebrated turnaround artists, is relinquishing his CEO role at Nissan Motor Co. and turning over day-to-day control to Hiroto Saikawa as he focuses on strengthening the carmaker's alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.Photographer: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg

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By Fergal O'Brien

January 24, 2019 at 8:15 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

An expected rebound in French activity in January failed to materialize, which will increase worries about the euro area’s second biggest economy.

IHS Markit’s measure of manufacturing and services dropped to 47.9, the lowest in more than four years, from 48.7 in December. That’s a shocking miss compared with forecasts in a Bloomberg survey for a pickup to 51.