By William Horobin

PARIS--Confidence in French manufacturing fell more than expected in March as business leaders became less optimistic about their own outlook and sector-wide production.

Confidence in manufacturing measured by national statistics office Insee fell to 104 in March from 107 in February. The long term average for the reading is 100.

Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected business confidence in manufacturing to fall one point to 106 in March.

A wider measure of business confidence--including services, construction, retail and wholesale--fell to 104 from 105.

-Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2017 04:09 ET (08:09 GMT)