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Summary The contraction in quarterly growth would be France's first since it came out of recession in 2009.
Frances economy is set to contract by 0.1 percent in the third quarter, the central bank confirmed Monday, in a forecast of further trouble for Europes second-biggest economy.The contraction in quarterly growth would be Frances first since it came out of recession in 2009 and follows zero growth for the past three quarters.If that quarterly contraction is confirmed and followed by another it would signal the French economy has entered a recession, which is commonly defined by economists as two consecutive quarters of contracting activity.French President Francois Hollande said Sunday he expected economic growth to be barely above zero for 2012. The government has forecast 0.3 percent growth for the year.
