French business confidence unexpectedly climbed in December to its highest since March 2008 as the economy extended its recovery from a recession.
The Bank of France's Business Sentiment Indicator for manufacturing advanced to 101 from 99 in November, according to an e-mailed statement today. Economists had expected an unchanged reading, according to the median of five forecasts gathered by Bloomberg News.
The Paris-based central bank said the data suggest expansion of 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimate.
Bloomberg