1981 : A Difficult Year for Industry - The recovery of the French economy begun in 1981 did not stimulate industrial growth. The continuing worldwide recession weighed heavily on the economic and financial environment of firms. Productive investment declined significantly. The depreciation of the franc did, of course, allow for an improvement of the trade balance within the intermediary goods sector. However, the problem of competitiveness at home and abroad within the capital goods and automobile sectors remained serious. The decline of production and the increasing loss of the share of the domestic market to imported goods explains the worsening of the situation of industrial employment.La reprise de l'économie française amorcée en 1981 n...