French economic growth remained stable in the first quarter at 0.3%

PARIS (Reuters) – French growth has remained stable in the first three months of the year, as household spending picked up after anti – government protests in late 2018, official data showed on Tuesday.

The second economy in the euro area grew by 0.3% between January and March, the third consecutive quarter at this rate, according to preliminary data from the Institute of Statistics of INSEE.

A Reuters survey of 27 economists had an average estimate of 0.3%.

Household spending, the traditional engine of French growth, rose 0.5% after a slowdown in the last three months of 2018, when spending was hit by some of the most violent street protests ever seen during of the last decades.

Business investment rose only slightly, rising 0.5% after rising 0.4% in the fourth quarter, when unrest weighed heavily on business confidence.

Exports increased only 0.1% in the first quarter, while imports increased by 0.9%. As a result, foreign trade subtracted 0.3 percentage points from growth, while building up inventories boosted output by 0.3%.