According to business leaders surveyed between 28 January and 19 February 2021, the business climate in France has weakened slightly: at 90, the synthetic indicator has lost one point and therefore remains significantly below its long-term average (100).

As in the previous month, this slight decrease reflects different moves depending on the business sector, in a context of a continuing health crisis. The business climate has deteriorated in the tertiary sectors (services and retail trade) while it has continued to recover in manufacturing. In building construction, business leaders remain confident about their business prospects.

At the same time, the employment climate has deteriorated. At 85, it has lost three points, after two months of slight improvement, and therefore remains well below its pre-crisis level. This deterioration is mainly due to the fall in the balances of opinion on the change (recent as expected) in the workforce size in retail trade.

The business climate in France in January 2021 has been revised downwards by one point and that in industry downwards by two points. The business climate in services for January has been revised upwards by one point, as the employment climate in France. These revisions are mainly explained by the inclusion of late responses from companies.