French Consumer Confidence Remains Stable

(RTTNews) - French consumer sentiment remained unchanged in January but remained weaker than its long-run average, monthly survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed on Tuesday.

The consumer confidence index posted 90 in January, the same score as seen in December and also matched expectations. The index had remained below its long-term average of 100.

Assessment of consumers regarding their future personal financial situation improved marginally as the index gained one point to -12, while the one related to their past financial situation was stable at -21.

The proportion of households believing it is a good time to make major purchases dropped slightly to -28, the survey showed.

At the same time, the proportion of households believing it is a good idea to save dropped considerably in January. The balance lost four points to 41.

On the other hand, opinion on their current ability to save rose to 20 from 19 a month ago. The index measuring future ability to save was steady at 14.

Regarding future standard of living in France, the balance of opinion lost one point to -58. The one related to past standard of living was stable at -70.

In January, households' fears about unemployment remained stable with the index at 45, which was well above its long-term average.

The survey, conducted among 2,000 households from January 2-19, also showed that more consumers expected prices to accelerate over the next 12 months, with the balance rising to -26 from -29. But the proportion of households who considered that prices climbed sharply over the past twelve months decreased three points to -6 in January.