Slight upturn for Paris region but no new jobs yet

2010 will be a slightly better year than 2009 for industry and service sector companies in the Ile-de-France region which includes Paris and the surrounding area. According to the Bank of France's annual report - based on a survey of some 2,000 companies - 2009 was a year of stark decline in both sectors. But for 2010, companies are expecting business volume to rise again - slowly but surely.

AFP

“The Ile-de-France region is particularly dependent on big companies which have a high degree of international exposure, and it has suffered” from the global crisis, the Bank of France says in its report.

Change in performance per sector (2009)

• Intermediate goods (wood, rubber, paper etc): -19.7 %
• Automobiles: -15.2 %
• Plant and equipment (electronics, aeronautic, rail etc.): +0.5 %

But it expects the region's industrial activity to see an upsurge of some three per cent in 2010.

The companies rely on consumer borrowing to individual households, which has remained stable.

But there was a sharp decline in investment in 2009. Rejecting claims this might hinder growth this year, the bank's regional director Bernard Tedesco said, “If we’re dealing with full order books, growth can happen quickly. Investment activities have simply been postponed. And never have conditions been as favourable for companies as now, with interest rates at a historic low.“

But the outlook for employment remains grim, according to the report.

In 2009 companies in the region laid off 4.5 per cent of their staff, and another 1.4 per cent are likely  to lose their jobs this year.

“Low profits mean that the CEOs are cautious. The job sector will be the last one to grow,” says the report.

Industry and service sector performance (2009 and 2010)

A survey among industry and service sector companies in Ile-de-France

The study was conducted among 1,022 companies from the industrial sector (producers of industrial or electronic machines, textile, automobile, consumer goods), as well as among 947 service sector companies (transport, merchandising, computer engineering, temporary work). In the Ile-de-France region, more than 300,000 people are employed in these two sectors.

Industry:

• Business volume: -12.3 % (2009), +3.0 % (2010)
• Export volume: -13.6 % (2009), +2.8 % (2010)

Service sector:

• Business volume: -5.2 % (2009), +1.7 % (2010)
• Export volume: -10.8 %, -5.6 % (2010)