The news is good: growth is expected to reach 1.8% in 2017, according to the latest economic report from Insee, published this Thursday. The statisticians have revised upward, by 0.2 points, their June forecast for the increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For the third consecutive quarter, activity has indeed increased by 0.5%.
This is a stroke of luck for the government, which is benefiting from the good health of the eurozone and the measures taken during the previous five-year term.
It should continue on this path until the end of the year. “Unprecedented since 2012,” admits Julien Pouget, head of the economic department at Insee.
Companies, which have taken advantage of the CICE (Tax Credit for Competitiveness and Employment) to restore their margins, can rely on the recovered strength of the global economy and the dynamism of domestic demand.
Not only has agricultural production recovered from last year’s decline caused by poor weather conditions, but construction has benefited from the strong increase in household housing demand. After two years of decline linked to fears of attacks, tourism has also picked up.
Results of these good figures: employment is progressing. Non-agricultural market employment increased in the second quarter (+69,000 jobs after +52,000 in the first quarter).
In total, Insee estimates that 208,000 jobs should have been created by the end of the year.
