French Consumer Spending Falls Unexpectedly in December

French consumer spending dropped unexpectedly in December as households cut back across the board, statistics showed Tuesday.

Consumer spending in the eurozone's second largest economy fell 1.2% on month in December while economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a 0.6% increase.

The consumer spending figure shows a soft spot in the French economy amid a broader acceleration of growth. Statistics earlier Tuesday showed strong growth in business investment helped drive an economic expansion of 1.9% in 2017, the largest since 2011.

In December, consumers cut spending on food and manufactured goods by 1.4% a piece, Insee said.

Still, the statistics agency revised its November figures upwards to a 3% month-on-month expansion from 2.2% previously. Quarter-on-quarter, spending in the last three months of the year was down only 0.1%, Insee said.

Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2018 03:25 ET (08:25 GMT)