French trade deficit worsens less than expected in June

France´s trade balance worsened in June as shipments to the US registered a large decline, although the outcome was not as bad as feared.

The shortfall in the country´s trade increased from -€2.7bn in May to -€3.4bn in June.

Nevertheless, economists had been expecting to see -€3.9bn of red ink.

Exports to the rest of the world declined by 1.8% month-on-month with imports little changed.

Sales to the UK and the remainder of the Eurozone improved slightly versus May.