French private sector economy ends stagnation, posts marginal growth in April

France PMI data released earlier today showed that after broadly stagnating on average during the opening three months of the year, French private sector economy posted a marginal growth at the start of Q2 2016. The Markit Flash France Composite Output Index, based on around 85% of normal monthly survey replies, recorded 50.5, up from 50.0 in March.

Data was a mixed bag. The index covering services rose to 50.8 in April, from the slightly sub-50 mark indicating contraction in March, beating forecasts for a rise to 50.1. The manufacturing index, however, dropped unexpectedly to 48.3, an eight-month low.

The more dominant service sector was picking up a lot of the slack from manufacturing which was weighed down by a sharp drop in incoming new orders. French service providers maintained positive business expectations in April. That said, the degree of optimism slipped to a four-month low and remained weaker than the survey’s historical average.

"The PMI data continue to paint a picture of a private sector economy stuck in a weak growth trajectory accompanied by little meaningful job creation,” notes Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist at Markit.