French consumer confidence steady heading into critical 'run-off' vote

French consumer confidence was steady in April amid a sharp fall in fears of becoming unemployed with more people believing now was a good time to carry out large purchases.

The headline consumer confidence index from INSEE was unchanged at 100.0 in April, as expected by economists.

Consumers judged future standards of living would register a slight improvement, with the corresponding subindex rising from a reading of -24.0 for March to -23.0 in April.

In parallel, they believed their ability to save was the same as last month.

Other subindices referencing whether now is a good time to carry out large purchases and their fear of becoming unemployed improved from -7.0 to -4.0 and from 19.0 to 15.0, respectively.

For Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, the survey findings pointed to "solid" consumer spending over the first three months of the year.

Although at the headline level household consumption might be expected to take a hit from lower spend on utilities because of the unusually warm weather, billing in arrears meant consumers wouldn't "recognise" the favourable tailwind from lower electricity bills immediately, Vistesen added.

"Households in France remain in good spirits going into the country’s critical elections next month."