French consumer morale bounced back in June, helped by a rebound in households' spending intentions and falling unemployment, data showed on Friday. A day after a report showed the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 9.1 percent, its lowest since September 2002, national statistics office Insee said its barometer of consumer sentiment rose to minus 28 in June from an unrevised minus 30 in May.
The data was welcome news for Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's government - which has vowed to cut joblessness and restore confidence - as well as for the outlook for the euro zone's second biggest economy.
"This is good news and the improvement in the consumer confidence index is linked to the improvement in people's perceptions about unemployment," said Laurence Boone, chief French economist at Barclays Capital in Paris.
Economists stressed that French consumer sentiment had yet to stage a strong upturn of the sort seen in Germany, where a recent report showed consumer sentiment was set to jump to a new five-year peak in July, lifted by strong spending plans.
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