The French economy unexpectedly contracted in the final quarter of last year as manufacturing output slumped in the face of strikes over an unpopular pension reform, data showed on Friday. The slowdown is a blow for President Emmanuel Macron, who has so far been able to point to resilient growth and job creation to justify his pro-business reform agenda. The euro zone’s second-biggest economy shrank 0.1% in the period from the previous three months, when it grew 0.3%, the data from the INSEE statistics agency showed. Economists in a Reuters survey had on average forecast growth of 0.2%. None of the 33 polled had expected anything weaker than 0.1% growth. FRGDPP=ECI […]