France's economy stagnated in the second quarter after an encouraging 0.7% rise in GDP in the three months before, with investment falling away, according to official statistics.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin insisted that the second biggest economy in the euro zone was still on course to post 1% growth over the year as a whole.
"After a very dynamic first quarter, the level of activity has held up," he said.
But the government, which has been pinning its hopes on growth to tackle the country's chronic unemployment problems, will not have been cheered by slowing growth in investment, which rose only 0.2% compared to 0.6% in the first quarter.
Consumer spending also slowed sharply, from a 0.9% rise in the first three months of 2015 to only 0.1% in the second quarter.
In one good sign, however, the contribution France's exports made to the economy rose by 0.3%, while imports slowed by 1.6%.
