Supported by the dynamism of services, growth in private sector activity accelerated in March in France, the firm IHS Markit said on Tuesday, revising its provisional estimate published at the end of March up slightly.
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Measured at 55.5 points in February, the indicator stood at 56.3 in March (against 56.2 points expected at the end of March by the firm).
An index above 50 marks an expansion in activity, while an index below 50 indicates a contraction.
In March, "
growth thus reached its highest level since July 2021 and strengthened for a second consecutive month
" after the trough in January due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, underlines the firm.
“
However, the strengthening of overall growth was exclusively the result of an acceleration in the increase in activity among service providers, as manufacturing production increased only marginally in March, and at a much slower pace than '
And despite the sustained activity in services, the private sector is suffering increasingly hard from inflation, aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
"
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has not only exacerbated the climate of uncertainty, but also caused the price of raw materials, energy and fuel to soar
," said Joe Hayes, senior economist at IHS Markit. .
Inflation in prices paid and invoiced by private companies reached "
a record level
" in March, and "
business confidence in the growth of their activity in the coming year has fallen to an all-time low for fourteen months
, ”points out the cabinet again.