France's economy collapsed in the first quarter as the sharpest pace since the World War II as the spread of the coronavirus, or Covid-19, and the consequent lockdown hurt economic activity, Bank of France said Wednesday.
Gross domestic product shrunk 6 percent in the first quarter of this year, the bank estimated. That is the worst performance since 1945. The French economy had shrunk 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Another contraction in the first quarter would push the economy into a technical recession.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.