France’s industrial production drops on labor unrest

French industrial production unexpectedly dropped in June dragged down by the oil transformation industry as several refineries in the country were shut down because of a strike, official data showed on Wednesday.

Industrial production in the eurozone’s second-largest economy contracted 0.8% month-over-month as coking and refining output dropped 12% and production in the food industry fell 2.3%, statistics agency Insee said.

Most oil refineries in the country closed down during June as workers walked out to protest a labor law reform passed by the government.

The figures were lower than expected, confirming the weak economic growth data for the second quarter released late last month. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.1% increase in industrial production.

Insee had said that industrial production had already shrunk 0.5% in May.

Source: MarketWatch