Household morale is deteriorating, fear of unemployment is increasing, according to INSEE

French household confidence deteriorated again in November, INSEE announced on Wednesday, with the summary indicator losing three points to 90, in particular due to increased fears about unemployment. The October indicator was revised downward by one point, to 93. Household fears about the outlook for unemployment increased by nine points this month, with a balance of opinion of 42, at the highest since May 2021.

November marked by the announcement of site closures at Michelin and ArcelorMittal

November was marked by the announcement of site closures at Michelin and ArcelorMittal, and statements from Industry Minister Marc Ferracci, predicting that there would “probably” be other site closures in the coming weeks and coming months, with a social balance sheet counting “in thousands of jobs”. Furthermore, households’ opinion on their future financial situation lost five points to -13, moving away from its long-term average (-7). The average is calculated over the years 1987 to 2023. The balance relating to their recent financial situation is almost stable (-1 point to -23).

A sharply declining opinion on the future standard of living

Their opinion on the advisability of currently making major purchases loses one point at -30, and moves a little further away from its average (-15). Households also have a significantly lower opinion on the future standard of living in France, which loses eight points to -51 and falls to the lowest since October 2023. Opinion on the recent standard of living loses two points for its part , at -69. In both cases, the balances of opinion are well below their respective averages (-28 and -48).

Households are also starting to fear an acceleration in prices in the next twelve months: +8 points to -41. However, these fears remain below average (-31). At the same time, their opinion on recent price developments is better and gains six points to 3 points, compared to a much lower long-term average of -13.

In this context, households’ opinion on their future saving capacity deteriorates slightly (-2 points to 11), while that relating to their current saving capacity loses one point to 17. Both balances are holding up well above their long-term averages (-7 and +10). Finally, households’ opinion on the opportunity to save gained one point to 38, compared to 18 on average.