Having dropped a slightly shallower revised monthly 1.7 percent in October, household spending on manufactured goods rose 0.4 percent in mid-quarter. The increase, which was well short of market expectations, nudged up annual growth from minus 3.8 percent to minus 3.7 percent but purchases were still some 2.5 percent below their pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

November's partial rebound reflected a 1.8 percent increase in household durables within which transport equipment (2.5 percent) was notably robust. Textiles and clothing (0.9 percent) also contributed and other engineered goods (0.1) similarly edged a little firmer. Elsewhere, food (minus 0.2 percent) extended its trend decline but energy (0.6 percent) gained ground. Consequently, overall goods spending was up 0.5 percent after a 2.7 percent fall in October.

Despite November's advance, average goods spending in the first two months of the quarter was still 1.5 percent below its mean level in the third quarter. Ignoring possible revisions, December will need a very unlikely 4.4 percent monthly jump just to hold the fourth quarter flat so retail looks very likely to have subtracted from the period's GDP growth. Moreover, with consumer confidence very subdued and buying intentions weak, prospects for the first quarter do not look any better. Today's update puts the French ECDI at minus 19 and the ECDI-P at exactly zero. Inflation has recently surprised on the downside but overall real economic activity is behaving much as expected.

Sales are seen rebounding 1.0 percent on the month after a 2.8 percent slump in October.

Consumption of manufactured goods by consumers is an indicator of consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are released separately as part of the report on total goods spending.

This indicator is a measure of retail sales and is unique to France. It measures consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are seasonally and workday adjusted. These adjustments eliminate the fluctuations that are solely due to changes in the number of working days. The data appear to be particularly sensitive to the number of worked Saturdays. With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. Retail sales are a measure of consumer well-being.

The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.

Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers. Perhaps auto sales are especially strong or apparel sales are showing exceptional weakness. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.