According to the statistics released by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), the country's manufacturing production in September this year decreased by 3.2 percent compared to August, after a month-on-month increase of 2.1 percent recorded in August.
During the third quarter, output improved in the manufacturing sector by 0.9 percent, whereas industry as a whole stayed stable, both compared to the previous quarter of this year. Compared to the same quarter of 2011, French manufacturing output decreased by 1.9 percent, while overall industry saw a decrease of 2.1 percent.
In the third quarter, France's production in manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, rose by 0.5 percent, the production of the motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industry increased by 4.3 percent, while the output of the construction industry rose 0.9 percent, all compared to the previous quarter.