Can the Eurozone’s and France’s bottlenecks be corrected? – Natixis

Bottlenecks have appeared in France and the euro zone taken as a whole regarding industrial production capacity and the labour market, with a sharp rise in hiring difficulties for companies, according to Patrick Artus, Research Analyst at Natixis.

Key Quotes

“If these two bottlenecks are not corrected, growth in France and the euro zone will inevitably slow.”

“To correct them, there would need to rapidly be:

• A sharp increase in corporate investment, both in capacity and in productivity;
• A considerable drive to train and reskill job seekers in order to reduce the structural unemployment rate (and the hiring difficulties).”

“Could these two developments conceivably take place?

• The only positive sign at present is the upturn in industrial production capacity in the euro zone (but not in France).
• There has been no improvement in productivity or in capital modernisation, and the training drive will take a long time to bear fruit.”