Informations Rapides · 24 February 2021 · n° 046
In February 2021, the French business climate as well as the employment climate have weakened Business indicator - February 2021

According to business leaders surveyed between 28 January and 19 February 2021, the business climate in France has weakened slightly: at 90, the synthetic indicator has lost one point and therefore remains significantly below its long-term average (100).

As in the previous month, this slight decrease reflects different moves depending on the business sector, in a context of a continuing health crisis. The business climate has deteriorated in the tertiary sectors (services and retail trade) while it has continued to recover in manufacturing. In building construction, business leaders remain confident about their business prospects.

Informations rapides

N^o 046

Paru le :Paru le24/02/2021

Prochaine parution le : 22/05/2025 at 08:45 - May 2025

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The business climate in France has weakened slightly
The employment climate has deteriorated
Revisions
For further information

The business climate in France has weakened slightly

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Tableau

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tableauFrench business climate composite indicator

French business climate composite indicator
	French business climate composite indicator
2005-01	106.0
2005-02	106.2
2005-03	105.8
2005-04	105.0
2005-05	102.8
2005-06	103.9
2005-07	104.5
2005-08	104.4
2005-09	103.7
2005-10	106.5
2005-11	106.5
2005-12	107.8
2006-01	109.1
2006-02	107.3
2006-03	107.4
2006-04	108.1
2006-05	109.7
2006-06	109.1
2006-07	110.8
2006-08	111.1
2006-09	111.6
2006-10	111.4
2006-11	112.3
2006-12	110.7
2007-01	110.7
2007-02	112.3
2007-03	112.7
2007-04	113.4
2007-05	113.8
2007-06	114.9
2007-07	114.2
2007-08	112.9
2007-09	112.1
2007-10	111.4
2007-11	111.6
2007-12	111.2
2008-01	110.1
2008-02	108.7
2008-03	108.4
2008-04	105.7
2008-05	103.1
2008-06	100.3
2008-07	96.2
2008-08	94.9
2008-09	92.3
2008-10	83.9
2008-11	80.6
2008-12	77.0
2009-01	75.5
2009-02	73.1
2009-03	70.3
2009-04	71.4
2009-05	74.9
2009-06	77.6
2009-07	79.6
2009-08	83.4
2009-09	86.7
2009-10	89.2
2009-11	91.4
2009-12	91.9
2010-01	93.9
2010-02	94.3
2010-03	93.7
2010-04	97.7
2010-05	98.7
2010-06	98.4
2010-07	100.5
2010-08	102.7
2010-09	104.2
2010-10	105.2
2010-11	105.4
2010-12	107.1
2011-01	108.0
2011-02	108.6
2011-03	109.6
2011-04	109.3
2011-05	108.3
2011-06	108.5
2011-07	106.4
2011-08	101.4
2011-09	98.1
2011-10	97.0
2011-11	95.1
2011-12	93.7
2012-01	93.0
2012-02	92.9
2012-03	95.4
2012-04	96.1
2012-05	92.7
2012-06	91.7
2012-07	89.6
2012-08	89.1
2012-09	87.6
2012-10	85.7
2012-11	87.5
2012-12	88.2
2013-01	88.0
2013-02	88.0
2013-03	86.2
2013-04	84.7
2013-05	85.8
2013-06	86.9
2013-07	88.8
2013-08	92.0
2013-09	95.0
2013-10	94.7
2013-11	93.9
2013-12	93.8
2014-01	94.4
2014-02	94.3
2014-03	95.5
2014-04	95.4
2014-05	95.0
2014-06	93.9
2014-07	93.3
2014-08	92.1
2014-09	91.3
2014-10	91.5
2014-11	93.3
2014-12	93.5
2015-01	93.8
2015-02	94.6
2015-03	95.8
2015-04	96.8
2015-05	97.7
2015-06	98.5
2015-07	98.9
2015-08	100.4
2015-09	100.1
2015-10	101.1
2015-11	101.2
2015-12	99.7
2016-01	101.5
2016-02	100.6
2016-03	100.6
2016-04	100.7
2016-05	102.4
2016-06	100.8
2016-07	101.4
2016-08	101.1
2016-09	101.4
2016-10	101.7
2016-11	102.0
2016-12	104.2
2017-01	103.9
2017-02	104.4
2017-03	104.3
2017-04	104.5
2017-05	105.5
2017-06	107.1
2017-07	107.9
2017-08	108.8
2017-09	109.3
2017-10	109.2
2017-11	110.6
2017-12	111.5
2018-01	110.8
2018-02	109.8
2018-03	109.5
2018-04	108.7
2018-05	106.9
2018-06	106.7
2018-07	106.0
2018-08	105.4
2018-09	105.3
2018-10	104.2
2018-11	104.7
2018-12	101.8
2019-01	102.4
2019-02	103.4
2019-03	104.9
2019-04	105.5
2019-05	106.2
2019-06	106.4
2019-07	105.3
2019-08	105.6
2019-09	106.5
2019-10	105.7
2019-11	106.0
2019-12	105.2
2020-01	104.9
2020-02	105.2
2020-03	94.6
2020-04	53.8
2020-05	60.6
2020-06	78.7
2020-07	84.4
2020-08	90.6
2020-09	91.9
2020-10	90.2
2020-11	79.4
2020-12	91.2
2021-01	91.4
2021-02	90.2

graphiqueFrench business climate composite indicator

tableauBusiness and employment climates

Business and employment climates
	Oct. 20	Nov. 20	Dec. 20	Jan. 21	Fév. 21
Business climates
France	90	79	91	91	90
Manufacturing	94	92	94	96	97
Building construction*	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Services	89	78	90	92	88
Retail trade	95	72	94	93	89
Wholesale trade		86		94

Employment	90	84	86	88	85

* c.f. « For further information »
Source: INSEE, Business tendency surveys

The employment climate has deteriorated

At the same time, the employment climate has deteriorated. At 85, it has lost three points, after two months of slight improvement, and therefore remains well below its pre-crisis level. This deterioration is mainly due to the fall in the balances of opinion on the change (recent as expected) in the workforce size in retail trade.

Graphique
Tableau

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tableauFrench employment climate composite indicator

French employment climate composite indicator
	French employment climate composite indicator
2005-01	102.6
2005-02	102.3
2005-03	104.8
2005-04	102.5
2005-05	103.1
2005-06	102.5
2005-07	102.9
2005-08	103.6
2005-09	103.9
2005-10	104.2
2005-11	104.0
2005-12	103.4
2006-01	104.3
2006-02	104.2
2006-03	104.8
2006-04	107.1
2006-05	108.2
2006-06	110.2
2006-07	109.9
2006-08	109.2
2006-09	108.1
2006-10	109.1
2006-11	110.5
2006-12	111.0
2007-01	109.4
2007-02	111.4
2007-03	111.1
2007-04	111.7
2007-05	113.3
2007-06	112.9
2007-07	111.2
2007-08	112.6
2007-09	113.3
2007-10	111.6
2007-11	113.1
2007-12	114.5
2008-01	113.9
2008-02	113.9
2008-03	112.3
2008-04	112.5
2008-05	108.4
2008-06	105.0
2008-07	105.7
2008-08	101.2
2008-09	99.9
2008-10	95.6
2008-11	88.7
2008-12	83.9
2009-01	81.4
2009-02	79.9
2009-03	74.3
2009-04	74.9
2009-05	74.0
2009-06	75.1
2009-07	78.8
2009-08	83.4
2009-09	82.7
2009-10	84.7
2009-11	87.0
2009-12	89.3
2010-01	90.6
2010-02	91.1
2010-03	93.6
2010-04	95.8
2010-05	97.7
2010-06	98.7
2010-07	99.1
2010-08	99.5
2010-09	101.0
2010-10	103.7
2010-11	104.7
2010-12	105.5
2011-01	104.1
2011-02	110.0
2011-03	109.1
2011-04	109.2
2011-05	110.8
2011-06	110.9
2011-07	109.4
2011-08	105.3
2011-09	103.6
2011-10	100.7
2011-11	100.7
2011-12	99.1
2012-01	97.9
2012-02	97.5
2012-03	99.1
2012-04	97.9
2012-05	95.3
2012-06	94.2
2012-07	92.8
2012-08	93.8
2012-09	91.7
2012-10	92.1
2012-11	90.6
2012-12	90.2
2013-01	92.7
2013-02	89.6
2013-03	88.8
2013-04	87.3
2013-05	86.8
2013-06	89.4
2013-07	90.6
2013-08	91.2
2013-09	92.6
2013-10	94.9
2013-11	93.4
2013-12	95.4
2014-01	95.6
2014-02	94.9
2014-03	95.7
2014-04	98.3
2014-05	97.3
2014-06	95.7
2014-07	96.1
2014-08	94.8
2014-09	94.9
2014-10	94.9
2014-11	94.7
2014-12	95.0
2015-01	94.2
2015-02	96.3
2015-03	95.7
2015-04	97.7
2015-05	97.8
2015-06	99.5
2015-07	100.0
2015-08	100.7
2015-09	100.5
2015-10	100.9
2015-11	101.8
2015-12	101.0
2016-01	102.1
2016-02	100.9
2016-03	99.9
2016-04	100.8
2016-05	102.4
2016-06	101.7
2016-07	104.2
2016-08	103.4
2016-09	104.7
2016-10	105.0
2016-11	105.0
2016-12	106.6
2017-01	105.4
2017-02	104.7
2017-03	107.4
2017-04	106.6
2017-05	107.3
2017-06	107.9
2017-07	107.4
2017-08	105.9
2017-09	106.9
2017-10	108.5
2017-11	108.3
2017-12	108.8
2018-01	109.4
2018-02	110.0
2018-03	109.9
2018-04	109.1
2018-05	109.3
2018-06	110.0
2018-07	108.4
2018-08	107.7
2018-09	107.3
2018-10	107.2
2018-11	105.4
2018-12	104.8
2019-01	105.3
2019-02	107.1
2019-03	107.3
2019-04	107.1
2019-05	105.3
2019-06	106.5
2019-07	106.3
2019-08	105.2
2019-09	106.0
2019-10	105.9
2019-11	106.5
2019-12	106.6
2020-01	104.9
2020-02	105.1
2020-03	96.5
2020-04	49.6
2020-05	53.9
2020-06	67.5
2020-07	77.0
2020-08	88.0
2020-09	92.3
2020-10	89.6
2020-11	84.0
2020-12	85.9
2021-01	87.9
2021-02	85.4

graphiqueFrench employment climate composite indicator

Revisions

The business climate in France in January 2021 has been revised downwards by one point and that in industry downwards by two points. The business climate in services for January has been revised upwards by one point, as the employment climate in France. These revisions are mainly explained by the inclusion of late responses from companies.

For further information

The business climate indicator summarises the information provided by the surveys in manufacturing, services, trade (retail and wholesale), and building construction. It is built from 26 balances of opinion from these surveys. The employment indicator is based on the 10 balances of employment, past and expected, from the surveys in manufacturing, services, retail trade and building construction.

The balances of opinion concerning employment in services that are used in the employment climate distinguish the services excluding temporary work employment sector from temporary work agencies. For the latter, the balances on past and expected workforce size are not weighted, unlike the other sectors.

Specifically concerning the building industry, all the balances of opinion resulting from the survey are published in the Informations Rapides issue dedicated to this sector and in the additional series available online. However, it appeared during the health crisis that the synthetic indicator usually calculated from some of these balances of opinion tended to smooth fluctuations in activity measured in the building industry. This is why an overhaul of this synthetic indicator is currently being studied in this sector in order to, if possible, improve its predictive qualities. The French business climate indicator has continued to take into account all the sectors studied, including the building construction industry; its methodology is unchanged.

Finally, since the definitive data of April 2020, the way of correcting non-response has been modified. The usual method was to fill in missing answers by carrying on past answers from non-responding companies. Results are now computed on the sole basis of responding units.

Company responses were collected between 28 January 2021 and 19 February 2021.

Next issue: 25 March 2021 at 08:45 am

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