A rebound of three points to 82. Household morale in France rebounded slightly in October, even if it remains at half mast; reported INSEE on Wednesday. If the French find a little smile, the figures are not folichons either. The level of household morale remains well below its long-term average (100 between January 1987 and December 2021), specified the National Institute of Statistics in a press release.
The most marked rebound in October concerns the opinion of households as to their future financial situation, which recovered five points compared to September, although remaining below its long-term average.
Households are also more confident in their ability to save today (+3 points) and in the future (stable), with two indicators above their average. On the other hand, they consider that it is less opportune to save than in September.
Unemployment fears remain stable
Inflation fears remain at very high levels. Households who consider that prices will increase over the next twelve months are virtually stable, but the “corresponding balance” remains well above its long-term average; according to INSEE. And the share of households that consider that the standard of living in France will improve over the next twelve months is increasing sharply (+7 points), but remains at half mast compared to recent years.
On the other hand, fears about unemployment remain stable compared to the previous month, during which they had jumped despite a relatively favorable employment context. However, the general level of these fears remains low compared to its average.
As a reminder, the threshold of 79 points, the historic low for household morale, measured by INSEE since 1972, has been reached twice in recent months, in July and September.