Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- French manufacturing confidence slumped to the lowest in 15 years in September, adding to evidence the economy was already in a recession as the global financial crisis worsened.
The Bank of France's index of manufacturing confidence fell to 87 from 94 in August, the Paris-based central bank said today. The September reading is the lowest since the same month in 1993 and is below the 92 expected by economists, according to the median of 4 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. New orders dropped ``markedly'' last month, the Bank of France said.
``We're at the lowest since 1993 when France was in recession and that trend is visible in all of the euro-area countries,'' Jean-Christophe Caffet, an economist at Natixis in Paris said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The euro region is in ``a lasting slowdown.''
