French Manufacturing Confidence at Highest Level in a Decade

Confidence in French manufacturing rose again in November, setting a fresh decade high as business leaders revised their assessment of recent production levels upward, statistics showed Thursday.

National statistics bureau Insee said that its monthly measure of manufacturing confidence rose one point to 112 in November. The improvement was in line with economists' expectations.

French business confidence has been rising steadily since the summer of 2016 as the broader economy shifted into a higher gear. Gross domestic product will expand 1.8% this year after three years of modest growth of around 1%, according to Insee's latest forecasts.

In November, Insee also reported a two-point improvement in a cross-sector measure of business confidence. The composite measure reached 111 on improvements in services, construction, retail and wholesale, as well as manufacturing.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 23, 2017 03:07 ET (08:07 GMT)