Industrial Output index, Company Creations, Consumer Prices index Metropole, The Labor Market Metropole
INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT INDEX
The overall industrial output index increased +1% compared with the previous quarter impacted by Intermediate Goods +1% production increase, the Automobile Industry +2.8% the Food and Agriculture Industry +1.7% and Consumer Goods
+1.1% The Capital Goods output took a pause and only rose +0.4% similarly to Energy production quasi stable +0.1% Although first quarters perform rather well year on year, this first period heralded steady production momentum for the coming quarters due to the very sectors involved.
Out of Consumer Goods, perfumes-pharmaceuticals and personal care products saw output increase +1.9% Intermediate Goods strongest production increase +2.9% was recorded by the chemical products-rubber-plastic item. The textile output rescinded from previous improvements and declined -0.9% while wood-paper or card board products production dipped -1.4% Metal and metallic products output stayed nearly unchanged or +0.2% while electric and electronic components output rose +2.2% as a direct result of Capital Goods strong items performance: the boats-trains-planes-motorcycles production jump +3.1% while the electric-electronic equipment production, usually strong, fell -0.9% The mechanical equipment output stayed unchanged or +0.1%. Out of the Energy sector the combustible and fuels output fell -3.8% due mostly to mild winter temperatures. The water-gas-electricity production consequently only rose +0.8% In one year to March, the overall industrial output index preformed positively and rose +1.2% impacted by Intermediate Goods +2.2% Capital goods +2.4% and Consumer Goods +1.8% The Food and Agriculture Industry production index also grew +0.9% while the automobile industry output index stayed unchanged. The energy sector saw output fall -3.6% on the same period, to the benefit of the oil bill.
Out of the Intermediate Goods sector the mineral products production index jumped +3.8% and metal-metallic products +5.4% By contrast, the wood-paper-cardboard products output index fell -1.3% despite Consumer Goods strong performance. The
chemical products output index rose +0.9% while electric components stayed unchanged or +0.1%. The Capital Goods sector best performers included the boats-trains-planes-motorcycles production index +5.2% increase along with mechanical equipments +4.3% The electricelectronic equipment output index by contrast did not follow suit and fell -1.2% Consumer Goods perfumes-pharmaceuticals and personal care products output index jumped +9.2%
COMPANY FORMATIONS
Overall company creations rose +3.7% compared with the previous quarter to a total 26 752 new companies and increased +14.7% in one year to 294 621 formations. New businesses in the Intermediate Goods sector and Real Estate increased each an impressive +15.1% in Q1 as demand boosted each sector despite prohibitive prices as regards the latter. On the same period, the Food and Agriculture Industry new ventures rose +10.3% a sector known to weight heavily and positively on the balance of trade. Transport formations grew +8.7% as lower oil prices encouraged new comers in a hectic sector while the Consumer Goods group new companies +6.2% reflected strong and sustained consumer demands for manufactured products, a positive signal for entrepreneurs.
Similarly, the Commerce sector saw new businesses increase +5.1% while to a lesser extent, Construction +2.1% increase translated postponements due to unusually cold temperatures in January impacting thus downwards creations in February. By contrast, new ventures in the Services to Companies sector slid -1.7% as a pause, similarly to Health-Education-Social Services -0.7% following a strong February month. The Capital Goods group new businesses fell the hardest -4.2% due in great part to the Airbus crisis and massive lay offs plan involving staff as well as subcontractors. All sectors recorded strong company creation increases in March, on average +4% with the exception of the capital goods sector -9.6% dip. In one year to March, Capital Goods slow performance impacted negatively its yearly creation rate, -3.4% while all other sectors saw their respective new ventures rise significantly : the Food and Agriculture Industry new businesses skyrocketed +36.7% along with Intermediate Goods +36% and Transport +34.2%
CONSUMER PRICES INDEX
The overall consumer prices index stayed quasi unchanged in Q1 gaining a slight +0.2% as manufactured products -0.8% price index cut offset other components increases : the food price index stayed stable or +0.1% along with the tobacco price
index while out of manufactured products, the clothing and shoes item price index fell a substantial -4.9% The energy price index remained unchanged and out of the services component, rent rose +0.8% while transport and communication stayed stable.
In one year however, the overall price index rose +1.2% impacted by the food and clothing and shoes components, gaining respectively +0.5% and +0.9% The energy price index stayed nearly unchanged +0.2% as oil products price index fell -
2.8%. Out of the services price index, the rent index grew +3.1% while the transport and communication item fell -0.8%
The LABOR MARKET
Overall unemployment in Q1 stood at 2 312 000 million jobless or 8.8% of the working population, according to Eurostat figures (8.4% according to Insee) and fell -2.4% compared with the previous quarter. In Q1, the over 50 age group jobless rate fell -3.1% to 372 000 unemployed but remain for the most part unaccounted for due to an official job search exemption due to their age. The 25 to 49 jobless rate declined -2.9% to 1 387 000 million unemployed, representing the largest jobless group.
The under 25 saw unemployment fall -2.0% to 552 000 jobless, and still records the highest unemployment rate in Europe 21.4% for that age group. Per gender, and on the same period, overall male unemployment fell -2.5% compared with the previous quarter while female’s declined - 2.8% but accounted for a larger group, respectively 1 138 000 million and 1 173 000 million. The under 25 age group inverted this pattern as young female unemployment fell -1.5% to 262 000 jobless and young male’s declined -2% to 291 000 unemployed. The over 50 female unemployment rate fell -3.7% to 182 000 jobless while male in that same age group saw unemployment decline -2.6% to 190 000 unemployed. In one year, overall unemployment fell -11.4% to 2 281 000 million jobless and according to provisional jobless figures, the over 50 age group jobless rate fell the fastest -13.5% followed by the intermediate age bracket -13%. The under 25 age group declined -5.7% to 549 000 jobless.
Per gender and on the same period, female unemployment fell overall -12.1% compared with male’s -10.7% The young female unemployment rate followed its quarterly pattern and dipped -5.8% compared with -6.2% for young males. Out of the 25 to 49 age group unemployment fell -13.8% for females and -12.8% for males. The over 50 female jobless rate fell -14% while male’s fell -12.6%. Registrations for unemployment due to lay-off increased +0.4% in Q1 as the month of January accounted for a record 17983 redundancies or + 21% against the previous month. By contrast, registrations due to the end of temporary jobs fell -2.5% as activities picked up and allowed for contract renewals. Similarly, registrations due to the end of short term contracts dipped -22.5% In one year, registrations due to lay-offs declined -11.8% while registrations for the end of temporary jobs grew +4% as several months recorded peaks (from July, registrations stayed on the increase up to March). Registrations due to the end of short term contracts fell -3.3%
Although overall job offers increased +12.7% to 330 367 in Q1, they remained dwarfed by unemployment figures expressed in millions. On the same period, long term offers (over six months and expressed in gross figures) jumped +9.3% while short term offers (under six months and in gross figures) skyrocketed +31.1% and stayed uncorrelated to a slight decline for unemployment registrations specific to that criterion. Occasional job offers increased a slight +1.2%.
In one year, the labor market stagnated: overall job offers jumped +26.8% but long term offers and short term offers fell respectively -0.8% and -1.9% Occasional job offers rose +6.8% leaving little perspective to job seekers.
