French private sector downturn eases in June, PMI shows

By Makini Brice

PARIS, June 23 (Reuters) - France's private sector contraction eased in June as declines in manufacturing and services output both slowed, a business survey showed on Tuesday.

The S&P Global Flash France Composite Output Index rose to 47.6 from 44.9 in May, a preliminary survey by S&P Global showed. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction.

"After France's first quarter GDP figure was revised lower to show a quarterly contraction, today's move higher in the French PMI will be met with a sigh of relief," said Joe Hayes, senior principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The French flash PMI had shown a sharp contraction in May, which was later revised upward in a subsequent reading with more respondents. The PMI often shows sharper contractions in a downturn than larger surveys, such as the one taken by the central bank and the national statistics institute, because it uses a smaller sample size.

The S&P Global Flash France Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.7 from 49.7, a two-month high, while the manufacturing output index climbed to 48.9 from 47.8.

Services activity, meanwhile, remained in decline, but contracted less sharply. The S&P Global Flash France Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 47.4 from 44.3, its highest in three months.

Demand remained weak. New orders fell for a seventh straight month, though the decline was the slowest since February, while export orders posted another steep drop, the second-fastest since December 2024.

Employment was broadly stable after May's significant decline, and business confidence improved for the first time since January. Cost pressures cooled for the first time since February, while output price inflation eased as some firms offered discounts.

Hayes said softer readings in the survey's pricing measures, following the fall in global oil prices over the past month, could point to disinflation, but uncertainty around ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz clouded the outlook.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Joe Bavier)