Household spending on manufactured goods rose slightly more than expected in February but failed to reverse a steeper revised drop at the start of the year. Purchases were up 0.3 percent on the month, a tick stronger than the market consensus but this only dented a 0.9 percent fall in January. Indeed, sales were still some 4.7 percent below their level just before the arrival of Covid.

February's limited rebound came courtesy of a 1.4 percent monthly gain in durables within which transport equipment climbed fully 2.1 percent. However, household goods were only flat while textiles and clothing fell 0.6 percent and the other engineered goods category 0.2 percent. Elsewhere, food rose 0.8 percent but energy decreased 2.7 percent leaving overall goods spending only unchanged.

The latest update means that average total goods spending in the first two months of the quarter was 0.4 percent below its mean level in the fourth quarter of 2023. Absent any revisions, March will need a monthly rise of at least 0.9 percent just to hold the quarter flat. To this end, consumer confidence and buying intentions improved this month but both gauges remained well below its historic norm. More generally, today's updates put the French RPI at minus 4 and the RPI-P at 5, both measures showing overall economic activity performing much as expected.

Spending is seen rising 0.2 percent on the month following a 0.5 percent fall in January.

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.