France, the euro zone's second biggest economy, fell into recession in the first quarter of 2021 with a 0.1% contraction, revised official data showed on Friday, reports Yahoo! News.
The INSEE statistics office revised its GDP reading sharply down from +0.4%, saying data from the construction sector had been much weaker than its extrapolation had suggested.
It followed 1.5% contraction in the final three months of 2020.
A revision of half a percentage point is highly unusual in France and underscores the challenges governments have faced in responding to the coronavirus pandemic as it roils economies around the globe.
In a further sign of difficulties, household spending, the driving force of France's economic activity, fell 8.3% in the first month of the second quarter after President Emmanuel Macron ordered a third national COVID-19 lockdown.