* Clothing, household goods consumption fall
* Economists say figures strongly disappointing
* Points to economy missing govt growth forecast
(adds details, analysts, background)
By Daniel Flynn
PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - French consumer spending on manufactured goods unexpectedly plunged in June due a drop in sales of clothes and household goods, reviving concerns over the strength of the recovery in the euro zone's No. 2 economy.
French statistics office INSEE said on Friday that consumer spending on manufactured goods fell 1.4 percent in June, after a 0.6 percent rise in May, when it was boosted by World Cup-related spending.
That was well below the average forecast of a Reuters survey of 23 analysts for a rise of 0.2 percent in June.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, consumption fell 0.9 percent in the second quarter, roughly halving its 1.9 percent decline in the first quarter.
Consumer spending is the motor of France's roughly 1.6 trillion euro economy, but the INSEE indicator measures just spending on manufactured goods, which accounts for roughly one-quarter of total consumer spending.
BNP Paribas analyst Dominique Barbet said the figures had "strongly disappointed the market" and could spell a drop in overall French consumer spending in the second quarter for the first time in two years.
Sales of textiles and leather -- mainly clothing -- fell 5.0 percent in June, with INSEE noting this was partly due to a delay in summer sales, which did not start until June 30 this year. [ID:nPISMIE60I]
Household goods sales fell 3.6 percent, handing back some of May's steep 6.4 percent increase when they were boosted by sales of electronic equipment before the World Cup.
ABN Amro's Joost Beaumont said the figures partly compensated for May' strong reading, but showed the fragility of the French recovery.
"Sluggish labour market conditions, fading government stimulus and heightened uncertainty about the economic outlook are likely to have made consumers hesitant to open their purse strings. Looking forward, we expect these factors to stay around," said Beaumont, who forecasts French gross domestic product to grow 0.3 percent in the second quarter and 1.2 percent this year.
INSEE has said growth in French gross domestic product growth needs to accelerate to at least 0.4 percent in the third and fourth quarters to meet the government's growth target of 1.4 percent in 2010. Growth was just 0.1 percent in the first quarter.
The French government's forecasts of an acceleration in GDP growth to around 2.5 percent next year -- a level seen as optimistic by many economists -- is a key part of its strategy to pare its deficit to 3.0 percent of GDP by 2013, part of European efforts to restore confidence in the euro zone.
The French government's deficit is forecast to reach 8 percent of GDP this year.
Data on Thursday showed French consumer confidence in July remaining stable near historically low levels, due in part to concerns over unemployment, while business confidence recovered to its highest level since July 2008. [ID:nLDE66L0M2] On Friday, an INSEE survey showed second-quarter industrial demand improving, both from foreign and domestic clients, although they remained well below historic levels [ID:nPISMIE60J]. "For the third-quarter, the outlook for both overall and foreign demand are set to fall," it said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Veronique Tison, Editing by Toby Chopra)