France's consumer spending grew for a fourth straight month in February, albeit modestly, defying economists' expectations for a decline, data from INSEE revealed Tuesday.
Household consumption grew 0.1 percent from January, when it rose 0.7 percent, which was revised from 0.6 percent. Economists were looking for a 0.1 percent decline.
The high vigor of spending on energy and other engineered goods was offset by a slight decline in the consumption of clothes and cars, which was the first fall since September, the agency said.
Year-on-year, consumer spending climbed 3 percent in February, which was larger than the 2.6 percent gain predicted by economists.
Last week, figures from INSEE showed that French consumer confidence rose to the highest level since 2010 during March and households' unemployment fears eased.
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