France’s industrial sector continued to book rising output, capping a positive start to a year that could nevertheless darken if U.S. President Trump’s trade tariffs bite into demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. Production from French factories and other industry increased 0.2% in March from a month earlier, in line with economists’ estimates, figures from the country’s statistics agency showed Tuesday. Following a 1% rise a month earlier, March’s increase helps reverse a monthslong streak of decline in the sector’s output.

U.S. trade tariffs could lead to layoffs in French industries worst affected by the steep duties, a government minister warned, the Wall Street Journal reported. Job losses are “a risk,” industry minister Marc Ferracci told radio station France Inter on Wednesday. “If the U.S. tariffs are made to last, there will be an impact on jobs,” he said. “In terms of numbers, it’s difficult to assess the impact,” which will depend on exporters’ ability to translate tariff costs into higher prices, or absorb them into their margins, he said.

The French government is preparing to lower its growth forecast for this year, said work minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet on Wednesday, EuroNews.com reported. "We're more likely to be looking at 0.7%, which is the Bank of France's growth forecast," said the junior minister, interviewed by media channel France 2. That’s a revision from the state’s current prediction of 0.9%, used as a basis for France’s yearly finance bill. It also comes after economy minister Éric Lombard said on Tuesday that the government’s forecast would be lowered in the near future.

Language translation and AI tech business TransPerfect has acquired the France-based studios of The Mill and MPC, two global VFX brands that were owned by parent Technicolor, which abruptly shut down in February amid financial difficulties, Variety reported. According to TransPerfect, it retains the estimated 120 employees from these operations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

French consumer confidence decreased to 92 in March, down from 93 in the previous month, according to INSEE. This number was below analyst expectations of 94, while also remaining below the index’s long-term average of 100, EuroNews.com reported. Consumers were increasingly pessimistic about their financial outlook, which fell to a total of -11 in March, versus -4 in February. Expectations for future standards of living also dropped to -50 in March from -47 in the previous month.

The Bank of France reported a widening loss in 2024 after booking one-off gains the previous year and as it continues to digest rapid changes in the European Central Bank’s monetary policy in recent years, Bloomberg News reported. Like other central banks in the euro-area network, France’s is squeezed between servicing deposits at the high interest rates imposed on the economy to fight inflation and only small income flows from bonds purchased when borrowing costs were low.

Bankruptcies in France's tech start-up sector are increasing, according to a survey published on Tuesday whose findings could undermine President Emmanuel Macron's image of Paris as a leading European tech hub and key driver of the French economy, Reuters reported. During his first term in office, Macron touted Station F in Paris as an example of France's burgeoning tech start-up industry, and France's global AI summit in February attracted 110 billion euros of investment pledges.

A group of secured creditors of Altice France SA, unhappy with the deal arranged between the company and a majority of its creditors to cut about €8.6 billion ($9 billion) of debt, have tapped advisers to find ways to improve their terms, Bloomberg News reported. These creditors — which hold debt maturing in 2028 and 2029 — are working with law firm Ashurst LLP and boutique French advisory firm Ceres Partners.

German inflation unexpectedly remained unchanged in February, highlighting the challenges for the European Central Bank in deciding how quickly and how far to cut interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices increased 2.8% from a year ago, the statistics office said Friday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected a slight slowdown to 2.7%. The report follows earlier figures showing French inflation retreated to its lowest level in four years, while price gains in Italy surprisingly held steady.

Altice France, the European telecom giant led by billionaire Patrick Drahi, has struck a global debt deal with investors holding more than $25 billion in bonds and loans, one of the largest of a new breed of restructuring transactions, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The deal, which includes most of Altice’s creditors, could be the largest liability-management exercise for a European business to date.