France economy grows at 1.1%

FRANCE’S finance minister Michel Sapin has welcomed news that the country’s economy grew 1.1% last year, it’s biggest rise in four years, according to figures released today.

France’s national statistics body INSEE estimated that the country’s GDP grew by 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2015, while confirming growth of 0.3 percent in the third quarter.

The full-year figure, a jump from the 0.2% recorded in 2014, was in line with the government's predictions and the biggest increase since 2011.

The figures proved that ‘2015 was the year of the recovery’, M Sapin told AFP, and said that the trend would ‘intensify in 2016’ and spur job creation, despite another rise in unemployment figures - to a record 3.59million - in January.

He said the fact that output continued expanding in the fourth quarter, despite the terror attacks that left 130 people dead in November and dealt a severe blow to tourism, showed ‘the French did not give up’.

Consumer spending also rose 1.4% in 2015, while business investment grew 2% year-on-year, hinting at a returning confidence in the economic outlook in France.

The French economy still trails behind the average growth rate for eurozone countries of 1.5%.
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