PARIS, May 27 (Reuters) - French consumer confidence rose to -40 in May from an unrevised -41 in April, in line with expectations, data from national statistics institute INSEE showed on Wednesday.
INSEE also published business morale data for May that showed an improvement in the indicator to 72 from an unrevised 71 in April. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the May figure to come in slightly higher, at 73.
The slight improvement in both indicators, which remain at extremely low levels, comes a day after French consumer consumption data for April showed resilience, with households spending more than expected on manufactured goods.
The detail of the May consumer confidence data showed that while the overall reading was slightly better, the measure of fears of unemployment rose sharply to 88 from 83 in April.
"In my view the main take on this reading is that consumer confidence has already discounted the worst of this recession," said Silvio Peruzzo at RBS.
"On the consumer side, there are significant jobless fears due to the ongoing weakness in the economy. The overall message is that the survey is not pointing to a well-sustained improvement, but there are some interesting developments."
- For a full table of consumer confidence data, double click on [ID:nPAB004808]
- For a full table of business morale data, double click on [ID:nPAB004809]
- For more data, please click on (www.insee.fr)
- For all news and data, 3000 Xtra users can click on [FRANCE] (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon, editing by Mike Peacock)