By Patricia Brett
Paris, July 18 (BridgeNews) - French industrial output rose by more than expected in May as production of food and automobiles accelerated. Both overall production and manufacturing output, which excludes food and construction, rose 0.3% on the month in May, figures from national statistics agency Insee showed.
Compared with May last year, overall output rose 1.8% and manufacturing output 2.1%.
Economists had expected monthly increases of 0.1% in the overall index and 0.2% in manufacturing output.
However, they warned that it was unlikely that the rebound would be durable and that France would still suffer the backlash of the global economic slowdown.
"Industrial production is likely to decelerate further, as business surveys have continued to deteriorate in June and foreign demand is expected to remain weak over the coming months," said Marie-Pierre Ripert of CDC IXIS.
The data suggests that industrial production decreased in the first half of the year and that economic growth is likely to have slowed in the second quarter, Ripert said. In the first quarter, the French economy expanded by 0.5% compared with the fourth quarter of last year. The May production index was boosted by a surge of 1.5% in automobile production after a fall of 2.3% in April.
Output fell in the consumer goods sector for the second consecutive month and for the eighth month since May 2000.
Marc Touati, economist at Natexis Banques Populaires, said he expects a pick-up in consumer goods output in June, due increased consumption from the summer sales. Nonetheless, a real rebound in industrial output can not be expected until the fall, he said.