PARIS, Dec 11 - The French central bank said on Thursday industrial activity slowed a bit in November due to a dip in the car sector but that the outlook was positive, and it predicted 0.4 percent growth in the first quarter of 2004. The Bank of France published a survey report which repeated predictions of 0.5 percent growth for the fourth quarter of 2003 and 0.2 percent growth for 2003 as a whole. Separately, national statistics office INSEE said consumer prices rose a modest 0.1 percent in November, according to the standardised EU way of measuring, most of the rise apparently due to hikes in tobacco prices after state tax increases. Detailing the results of a survey conducted in November, the Bank of France also said its business climate index fell to 99 in November from 102 in October. "The production outlook remains favourable, except for the the car industry," it said. Thursday's central bank publication concerned a survey which is conducted monthly and routinely covers some 12,000 companies.
French Finance Minister Francis Mer has increasingly been reporting a pickup in the pace of growth and is counting on a fuller recovery next year to secure growth of 1.7 percent in 2004 after 0.5 percent or less in 2003 and 1.2 percent in 2002. Showing hope that better times may be just round the corner, French contract catering giant Sodexho Alliance said last month its net profit fell 11 percent in its 2002/2003 financial year but that it saw signs of improvement in some markets and expected a five percent rise in net profit in 2004. Another report by INSEE on employment in the third quarter, a period which included the lull caused by a heatwave, gave a bleak picture for the period, with a 0.1 percentage point dip. French unemployment hit 9.7 percent in November, according to the latest labour ministry data, and the government has said the jobless rate could rise further before starting to decline.//