France sliding into another recession

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

François Hollande‘s beleaguered socialist government was under increased pressure to boost the eurozone’s second largest economy after a collapse in manufacturing orders tonight left it on the cusp of another recession.

A survey of French manufacturers found that output contracted and businesses shed jobs in November in response to the fastest slowdown in new orders since April, accentuating the single currency bloc’s sluggish recovery. The services sector also declined, potentially sending the country sliding back into recession after having only emerged from one in the second quarter of 2013.

Hollande is already the most unpopular French president on record and can expect to face further charges of economic incompetence after the mainstays of French output and employment failed to reverse their fortunes ahead of the Christmas break.

French GDP shrank by 0.1% in the three months to the end of September and a second quarter of decline would put it technically in recession.

The government is under fire for presiding over a moribund economy that has kept unemployment at a record high. Only 26% of French people have a positive opinion of Hollande, according to the latest BVA poll, the worst score for a French leader since it began polling 32 years ago.

-Punchwp_posts