French industry output shrinks faster than expected in March - INSEE

PARIS: French industrial output fell more sharply than expected in March, driven in part by a sharp decline in production in the pharmaceutical and chemicals sectors, official data showed on Friday.

The INSEE statistics agency said industrial output shrunk 0.9% on the previous month against a market forecast of a 0.5% contraction. The agency revised February's figure down to 0.1% from 0.4% previously.

Manufacturing output, which excludes energy, fell 1% in March compared with a revised 0.8% increase in February, according to INSEE.

In the first quarter, industrial output rose 0.9% and manufacturing output increased 1.1%.