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Quicker rise in French private sector output despite renewed production decline
French private sector activity grew at a faster pace in February. The modest increase was supported by a solid expansion in services, which more than offset a decline in factory output. The contraction in manufacturing ended a four-month sequence of expansion, while services activity growth was the quickest since last October. Overall new orders placed with French business continued to rise in February, extending the current run of growth to almost a year. The rate of expansion accelerated slightly from January, but remained modest overall. Similar to the trend in output, there were contrasting results at the sector ... (full story)