French economic growth jumps to 0.6% in first quarter

French economic growth jumped to a better-than-expected 0.6 percent in the first quarter despite a fall in investment, preliminary figures released Wednesday showed. The INSEE national statistics office had been predicting only 0.4 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) as late as last month. The encouraging figures for the second-largest economy in the eurozone were welcomed as "clearly comforting" by Finance Minister Michel Sapin. The figures suggest there is a good chance th