Leather boosts consumer spending
According to French statistics office INSEE, consumer spending grew at a faster-than-expected rate in January because of higher leather and textile sales.
Household consumption expenditure on manufactured goods rose 1.8% month-on-month in January, reversing a 0.9% decline in December. Economists had predicted a 0.3% monthly increase. Spending on durables increased 2.7% after having fallen 0.8% in December.
Household consumption of other manufactured goods was flat in January, following a monthly decrease of 0.9% in the previous month. However, the amount spent on leather and textile goods rose 4.7%.
Despite this, consumer confidence has fallen as people become more and more disheartened about their financial circumstances. INSEE’s consumer confidence indicator dropped to minus 43 in February.
