The confidence among French manufacturers weakened more-than-expected in November, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed on Thursday.
The manufacturing confidence index dropped to 101 in November from 103 in October. Meanwhile, economists had forecast the index to fall to 102.
The downward movement in November was mostly due to the balance of opinion on the past change in production and the level of the order books.
The sub-index measuring manufacturers' views towards past production fell to 1 in November from 6 in October, and the overall order book balance worsened to -15 from -12.
Similarly, general production expectations weakened in November, with the corresponding index falling to -10 from -8, while personal production expectations of manufacturers strengthened from 12 to 17.
Meanwhile, the finished-goods inventory balance has reached the highest level since 2008,with the corresponding index rising to 28 from 20.
The index for the expected trend in selling prices in the next three months increased notably in November, as the relevant index stood at 39 versus 31 in October.
Business managers continued to express high levels of uncertainty regarding economic conditions in November.
The overall business confidence index that comprises the responses of business leaders from sectors, namely, manufacturing, construction, services, retail trade, and wholesale trade, remained stable for the second successive month at 102.0 in November.
