French corporate margins, household income growth ease in fourth-quarter - INSEE

PARIS (Reuters) - French corporate margins and households income fell in the fourth quarter of last year, the INSEE statistics agency said on Friday, while INSEE also confirmed previous estimates that the economy grew 0.4 percent from the previous quarter. INSEE said that corporate profit margins slipped to 31.5 percent from 31.6 percent in the previous quarter as real wages rose slightly faster than productivity gains. Meanwhile, growth in households real disposable income fell to 0.1 percent in the quarter from 0.6 percent in the previous month due to higher inflation and taxes. With consumer spending up 0.6 percent in the quarter but growth in purchasing power nearly stagnant, the household savings rate fell to 14.5 percent from 14.9 percent in the previous quarter, INSEE added. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)