French industrial confidence below average but steady

French industrialists were deep in gloom again in February, but their confidence about prospects for their businesses was steady, official data signalled yesterday.

The national statistics institute INSEE which provided the data said that its measure of industrial business confidence was steady in February at the January level of 92 points which was “sharply below” the long-term average.

The index had fallen below the average of 100 points during the financial crisis of 2008, to about 70 points, before breaking back above 100 at the end of 2010.

The overall index of business confidence, based on questions to business leaders in many sectors of activity, was also steady in February at 91 points, a level that was also below the long-term average of 100 points, INSEE said.

Business managers in the manufacturing sector, commenting on recent performance, considered that activity had slowed down.

Stocks of finished goods were steady at slightly above the long-term average. “Order books overall are no longer getting worse but are still meagre”, INSEE said, while orders from abroad “continued to slow down sharply.”

INSEE said it did not expect industrial activity to be very dynamic in the coming months.

The overall outlook by industrial leaders for prospects of the industrial sector as a whole “remains very weak” and below the long-term average, INSEE said.