French consumption likely to have rebounded slightly in December

French consumption is expected to have slightly rebounded in December. According to a Societe Generale research report, consumption is expected to have grown 0.1 percent sequentially that would round off a strong quarter. This might then lead to a 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter rise in consumption in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The new car registration figure for the month of December was quite strong. This implies that goods consumption might possibly be strong; however, certain weakness in energy consumption is expected given the fairly mild temperatures in December.

“Looking ahead, though, January has been especially cold in France so there will likely be a considerable bounce in the energy component”, said Societe Generale.

In the meantime, the INSEE business survey for retail trade came in at 106 for January, so the indications are that consumer spending might be strong at the beginning of 2017 as well.