Consumer Spending Falls

Some of youmay think I'm being malicious by harping on France's economic woes but I'm not. I think many indicators are pointing to a genuine trend and I'm simply recording them as they appear. For example:

PARIS, April 22 (AFP) - French households curtailed spending sharply in March, reflecting a cautious outlook in the face of unemployment fears, a stance that indicates further spending declines in the coming months, analysts said Thursday.

Consumption of manufactured goods fell 1.4 percent in March from the previous month, according to the national statistics office Insee, compared with analyst consensus expectations of a decline of just 0.4 percent.