The French economy should begin to recover from the recession towards the end of the year despite a surge in unemployment and continued slide in business investment, according to the national statistical office.
Output in the eurozone's second largest economy will contract by 0.6 per cent from July to September but then stabilise in the last three months of the year, Insee predicted, as credit conditions continue to im-prove and destocking slows.
The end of the contraction in France would help the eurozone as a whole to return to growth early in 2010. Insee predicts that the French economy will shrink by 3 per cent this year, a much less severe contraction than that expected in Germany and Italy.