French consumer confidence picks up in March: official data

PARIS, march 27 (Xinhua) -- French consumer confidence levels rose in march as the synthetic index improved by one point compared to the previous month, French national statistics institute Insee said on Wednesday.

In its monthly economic report, Insee said consumers were more confident in the country's economic performance and consumer sentiment about their future financial situation gained two points while their confidence of their past situation was stable at minus 26.

However, the two indexes remained below their long-term average.

The latest report added that a large slice of households believed it is time to make major purchases while their desire to save money decreased slightly.

However, according to the report, households expressed pessimism about their future standard of living. The indicator was down by one point at minus 30 compared to data in February, which remains below its long term average.

Worries about an extended depressed labor market were the major burden over most French families as more households expected an increase in unemployment. The corresponding index gained 10 points after loosing 21 points in February.