The business climate remained stable in July, at its long-term average for the third consecutive month, INSEE announced on Thursday. The indicator that summarizes the opinion of business leaders in the main sectors of activity stood at 100, said the National Institute of Statistics. The employment sentiment also remained stable in July compared to the previous month, at 106.
In terms of business sectors, services (102), industry (100) and construction (106) remained stable. Retail trade is marked by an upturn, from 102 in June to 106 in July, driven by an improvement in the opinions of business leaders as to the “general outlook for the sector”, explained INSEE. Conversely, in wholesale trade, a sector whose business climate is only published every two months by INSEE, the indicator deteriorated from 94 in May to 92 in July. This deterioration is explained by the fact that business leaders are less optimistic about ordering intentions.
“The stability of the business climate in July is rather good news in an economic context which remains difficult”, commented Sylvain Bersinger, chief economist of the Asterès cabinet. “With headwinds that remain significant, the business climate is not expected to improve significantly in the coming months,” he added in a note.
