FRANCE’S “gilets jaunes” protests have put the country’s private sector into reverse for the first time in more than two years, the latest snapshot of eurozone growth showed today.
Financial data firm IHS Markit’s latest temperature gauge of services and manufacturing activity, where a score over 50 signals growth, slowed to 51.3, the weakest since 2014.
But France was even harder hit because of the widespread protests, which left a trail of destruction in Paris and triggered a humiliating climbdown for president Macron on planned fuel tax rises. Output fell in manufacturing and services.
IHS Markit’s chief business economist Chris Williamson said the protests came against the backdrop of a slowdown across the eurozone which could see overall growth slowing this month.
He said: “While some of the slowdown reflected disruptions to business… arising from the ‘yellow vest’ protests… the weaker picture reflects growing evidence that the underlying rate of economic growth has slowed across the euro area.”
