According to the statistics released by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), the country's industrial production in January this year increased by 0.6 percent month on month, following a revised month-on-month decline of 0.9 percent recorded in December 2009. The year-on-year drop rate was registered at 0.7 percent.
In January, France's production in manufacture of metals and metal products decreased by 1.8 percent month on month and was slightly down by 0.3 percent year on year, the production of the automotive industry declined by 2.7 percent compared to December 2009 and by 1.6 percent year on year, while the output of the construction industry dropped 1.9 percent month on month and was down 2.5 percent compared to January 2009.