PARIS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - French consumer spending rose unexpectedly in November, driven by purchases of household goods and despite a continued slump in car sales, official data showed on Tuesday.
Consumer spending, traditionally the cornerstone of growth in the euro zone's second biggest economy, rose 0.3 percent in November compared with October, national statistics office INSEE said. Economists predicted a 0.1 percent fall in a Reuters poll.
But INSEE also downwardly revised the previous month's fall. The October figure, which was reported a month ago as -0.4 percent, was revised to -0.5 percent.
On a year-on-year basis, consumer spending rose 1.0 percent in November.
"At the moment, consumer spending is the only thing that's holding up amid the crisis, because everything else is going down," said Alexander Law, chief economist at Xerfi.
"But let's not get carried away -- the automotive sector and clothing are both down in the dumps."
Spending on durable goods rose 0.6 percent, driven by a 3.4 percent jump in household equipment such as white goods and furniture which outweighed a 2.1 percent fall in car sales.
Spending on textile and leather goods fell 1.0 percent while outlays in the miscellaneous "other manufactured products" category rose 0.5 percent. (Reporting by Francois Murphy, editing by Mike Peacock)