French Consumer Spending Rises as Inflation Slows

French consumer spending unexpectedly rebounded in November as stimulus measures and declining energy prices cushioned the impact of deteriorating economic growth. Spending by consumers, which accounts for about 15% of the economy, increased 0.3% from November, when it fell a revised 0.5%, Insee, the national statistics office in Paris, said recently. Economists expected a 0.2% decline, the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed. From a year earlier, spending rose 1%, accelerating from the revised 0.6% gain in Oct. With oil prices retreating from their July peak and inflation slowing, consumer spending helped France dodge a recession in the third quarter. The cost of a barrel of oil is down 70% from its mid-summer record and French inflation slowed to 1.6% last month. President Sarkozy