The data published by INSEE showed that in March, the business climate indicator increased by 1 point, to 97 points (the highest value since October 2024), while economists expected a decline to 95 points. However, the index remained below its long term average (100). The business climate has improved in retail and wholesale trade, has been stable in services and building construction and has slightly retreated in the manufacturing industry.
INSEE said that the manufacturing climate indicator dropped by 1 point to 96 points. Consensus estimates suggested that the index will remain unchanged. It remains below its long-term average (100) for the 11th month in a row. This decrease in the climate is mainly driven by the fall back in the balances of opinion on order books. The indicator of the business climate in the service sector remained at 98 points. In the building construction sector, the business climate indicator also remained unchanged (98 points). In retail trade (including trade and repair of vehicles), the business climate rose by 3 points to 100 points.
The data also showed that the employment climate index rose to 96 points from 93 points in February. This improvement is due to the rebound in the balances on past and future workforce size in services (including temporary work agencies) and manufacturing industry.