PARIS (Reuters) – French economic activity has picked up slightly over the last two weeks but remains a third below normal levels for this period of the year, the INSEE official stats agency said on Thursday.
Activity in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy is currently down 33% from normal levels compared with 35% two weeks ago, INSEE said.
As France prepares for the lifting of a nationwide lockdown on Monday, the industrial and construction sectors were showing signs of a pick-up after sanitary safeguards were put in place to allow workers to return to their jobs, INSEE said.
Consumer spending was down by 32% from normal levels, little changed from the 33% INSEE estimated two weeks earlier.
INSEE has been estimating the economic impact of the lockdown since late March by cross-checking a range of data including electricity use and bank card data.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by John Stonestreet)
