<p>France has suffered a double-dip recession according to revised official figures that showed it had a worse start to the year than previously thought.</p> <p>Europe’s second biggest economy shrank by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2021, sharply revised from an initial estimate of 0.4% growth, statistical agency INSEE said.</p> <p>It was the second consecutive quarter of contraction – the definition of a recession – after the economy shrank by 1.5% in the last three months of 2020.</p> <div class="sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image"> <figure class="sdc-article-image__figure"> <div class="sdc-article-image__wrapper" data-aspect-ratio="16/9"> <img class="sdc-article-image__item" loading="lazy" intrinsicsize="768x432" src="https://e3.365dm.com/21/03/768x432/skynews-emmanuel-macron-france_5325163.jpg?20210331161324" srcset="https://e3.365dm.com/21/03/384x216/skynews-emmanuel-macron-france_5325163.jpg?20210331161324 380w, https://e3.365dm.com/21/03/768x432/skynews-emmanuel-macron-france_5325163.jpg?20210331161324 760w, https://e3.365dm.com/21/03/1600x900/skynews-emmanuel-macron-france_5325163.jpg?20210331161324 1024w, https://e3.365dm.com/21/03/2048x1152/skynews-emmanuel-macron-france_5325163.jpg?20210331161324 2048w" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw" alt="French President Emmanuel Macron listening to people after they received a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the vaccination center of Valenciennes, northern France, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP)"> </div><figcaption class="sdc-article-image__caption"> <span class="sdc-article-image__visually-hidden">Image:</span><br /> <span class="sdc-article-image__caption-text">Emmanuel Macron’s government has spent tens of billions trying to shore up the economy Pic: AP</span><br /> </figcaption></figure> </div> <p>France had already been dragged into recession earlier in 2020 due to the pandemic, meaning it has now suffered a so-called “double-dip”.</p> <p>By the end of March this year the French economy was still 4.7% below its level at the end of 2019, according to INSEE.</p> <div class="sdc-site-layout-sticky-region " data-interscroller="true" data-format="floated-mpu" data-role="sticky-region" data-component-name="sdc-site-layout"> <div class="sdc-site-layout-sticky-region__target"> <div class="sdc-site-layout-sticky-region__mask"> <div class="sdc-site-layout-sticky-region__content"> <div class="sdc-site-au-wrapper "> <div class="sdc-site-au site-component-vertical-margin" data-ad-format="mpu-1" data-type="" aria-hidden="true"> <p> <span class="sdc-site-au__label-text" data-label-text="Advertisement">Advertisement</span> </p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>The latest revision, reflecting a poorer than expected performance for the construction sector, underscores the challenges faced by France and its European neighbours as they battled a fresh wave of <strong><a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/covid-19-8518">COVID-19</a></strong> infections this year.</p> <p>President Emmanuel Macron’s government has spent tens of billions of euros to try to shore up the economy and protect jobs during the crisis.</p> <div class="sdc-article-widget sdc-article-related-stories" data-component-name="sdc-article-related-stories"> <div class="sdc-article-related-stories__content"> <h3 class="sdc-article-related-stories__title">More from Business</h3> </p></div> </div> <p>But a resurgence in cases resulted in the country going into a third national lockdown, spelling further difficulties for the economy with new figures showing household spending fell by 8.3% in April – the start of the second quarter.</p> <p>The restrictions are now being unwound and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire this week stuck to his growth forecast of 5% for 2021.</p> <div class="sdc-article-widget sdc-article-image"> <figure class="sdc-article-image__figure"> <div class="sdc-article-image__wrapper" data-aspect-ratio="16/9"> <img class="sdc-article-image__item" loading="lazy" intrinsicsize="768x432" src="https://e3.365dm.com/21/05/768x432/skynews-france-lockdown-coronavirus_5397933.jpg?20210528162028" srcset="https://e3.365dm.com/21/05/384x216/skynews-france-lockdown-coronavirus_5397933.jpg?20210528162028 380w, https://e3.365dm.com/21/05/768x432/skynews-france-lockdown-coronavirus_5397933.jpg?20210528162028 760w, https://e3.365dm.com/21/05/1600x900/skynews-france-lockdown-coronavirus_5397933.jpg?20210528162028 1024w, https://e3.365dm.com/21/05/2048x1152/skynews-france-lockdown-coronavirus_5397933.jpg?20210528162028 2048w" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw" alt="Chairs are stacked on the terrace of a restaurant during preparations for the reopening of restaurants in Nice as part of an easing of the country's lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, May 18, 2021. "> </div><figcaption class="sdc-article-image__caption"> <span class="sdc-article-image__visually-hidden">Image:</span><br /> <span class="sdc-article-image__caption-text">Latest restrictions have started to ease</span><br /> </figcaption></figure> </div> <p>He said the crisis was “moving behind us, though we must remain cautious”.</p> <p>Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, also contracted in the first quarter though a spell of growth at the end of 2020 meant it was not in recession.</p> <p>Similarly, <strong><a href="https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-locked-down-uk-economy-shrank-by-1-5-in-first-quarter-12304002" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UK GDP shrank by 1.5%</a></strong> over the January-March period this year – thanks to the latest lockdown – but had grown in the fourth quarter, meaning it avoided a double-dip.</p> <p>Overall, Britain’s economy shrank by 9.8% in 2020, worse than any other country in the G7 group of major advanced nations. French GDP contracted by 8%.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/news/2021/05/28/france-in-double-dip-recession-as-figures-show-first-quarter-worse-than-thought/">France in double-dip recession as figures show first quarter worse than thought</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/news">Patabook News </a>.</p>
source https://patabook.com/blogs/96117/France-in-double-dip-recession-as-figures-show-first-quarter
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