Services PMI 44.3 vs 42.9 prelimPrior 46.5Composite PMI 44.9 vs 43.5 prelimPrior 47.6Even with an improvement to the initial estimates, this is still a very poor reading for French services activity. Of note, both activity and new business levels decreasedat their steepest rates in five-and-a-half years with employment conditions also deteriorating at its quickest pace since early last year.Adding more woes to the weakening business sentiment is that the French economy saw a further sharp uplift ininflationary pressures during May.The rate of input priceinflation accelerated for the third straight month in May,reaching its highest in just over three years. Meanwhile, French service providers raised their charges midway throughthe second quarter as rapid cost increases prompted at leastsome pass-through to customers. The extent to which outputprices rose was the quickest since June 2023.S&P Global notes that:"France's service sector, which had already beenshowing vulnerability prior to the outbreak of war in theMiddle East, suffered a heavy setback in May. Furtherfalls in the PMI measures of activity and new businesstook them down to levels which ring recession alarmbells."Geopolitical uncertainty is restricting decision-making,while surging price pressures are eroding purchasingpower. It's hard to see how France's economy can springback to life against this backdrop, strongly raising theprospect of a contraction in GDP for the second quarter." This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.