Household morale in France fell again slightly in February, after its sharp decline in January, the share of those who want to save, as well as their saving capacity, reaching historic levels, according to data released Thursday by the Insee.
In a context of the persistence of the epidemic, the indicator which reflects household confidence in the economic situation lost one point in February, to 91 points, against 92 in January and 95 in December, thus remaining below its average of long period which is 100. The balance of opinion of households believing that it is opportune to save, a sign of concern in the future, "remains at its highest historical level", while the balances of households' opinion of their current and future savings capacity is also reaching a record level, underlines INSEE.
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The restrictions on activities since the start of the epidemic (leisure, catering, etc.) and measures to support purchasing power, in particular partial unemployment, have in fact led households to save massively.
At the same time, in February, the share of households believing that it is opportune to make major purchases remained stable, below its long-term average.
The balance of opinion of households on their future financial situation also remains stable, also below its long-term average.
On the other hand, the proportion of households who believe that the standard of living will improve in France over the next twelve months has fallen again.
And fears about rising unemployment continued to rise in February.
