--Insee: French preliminary Q1 GDP +0.5% on qtr; +2.7% y/y
--French preliminary Q1 exports -0.6% on qtr; imports -1.7% on qtr
--French Q1 household spending +1.3%/qtr; domestic demand +0.2%
--French preliminary Q1 total fixed investment +0.7% on qtr
--French prelim Q1 GDP growth weaker than analyst forecasts

Paris, May 23 (BridgeNews) - The French economy grew at a weaker-than-expected 0.5% pace in the first quarter of this year, and gross domestic product was revised lower in the fourth quarter, to 0.8%, as exports and fixed business investment slowed sharply, preliminary GDP data issued by national statistics institute INSEE Wednesday showed.
* * * On a year-over-year basis, first quarter GDP growth was 2.7%. A separate special calculation by Insee showed that French growth would probably be 1.6% for all of 2001, based on the first quarter figure, if growth remained at zero for the remaining three quarters of the year.