Industrial production in France contracted by 0.4% in December, according to a report from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) released on Wednesday morning.
The December reading was worse than market expectations, which had anticipated an industrial production contraction of only 0.1%, and it was also an improvement from the previous reading in November, which showed growth of 0.1%, revised down from 0.2% growth.
The most affected sectors that experienced a contraction in production in France were as follows:
A sharp decline in transportation equipment production by 5.4%. Industrial production in the automobile manufacturing sector fell by 11%, while production in other transport equipment manufacturing declined more moderately by about 2%. Industrial production in "other industrial products" contracted by about 1%.
