PARIS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - French consumer spending rose far more than expected in January as shoppers spent heavily on a wide range of goods, but their concerns about the future have grown, official data showed on Tuesday.
Consumer spending on manufactured goods rose 1.8 percent compared both with a month earlier and a year before, far surpassing the monthly increase of 0.2 percent predicted by analysts. January's increase did, however, follow a fall of 0.9 percent in December.
All components of the indicator rose markedly, with the exception of the "other manufactured goods" category, which was flat, national statistics office INSEE's figures showed.
Spending on textile-leather goods jumped 4.7 percent in a month. Spending on automobiles, which has taken a beating in the global economic downturn, rose 2.8 percent, while outlays on household equipment increased by 3.0 percent.
A separate survey on consumer confidence in February showed a slight worsening, with the headline figure falling one point to -43, slightly worse than the -42 expected by analysts. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by David Stamp)