French preliminary inflation stable at 0.9% in March, below forecast

(Reuters) -French consumer prices rose less than anticipated in March, as accelerating prices for services were offset by declining energy prices, preliminary data from statistics agency INSEE showed on Friday.

France's harmonized inflation rate, adjusted for comparison with other euro zone countries, increased 0.9% year-on-year in March, unchanged from February, but below the average rise of 1.1% expected by economists surveyed by Reuters.

Service prices climbed 2.3% year-on-year, accelerating from 2.2% in February. Energy prices were 6.2% lower year-on-year after dropping 5.8% the month before, the agency said.

Manufactured goods prices declined on an annual basis slightly faster than in the prior month, the agency reported.

Tobacco price inflation rose 4.1% year-on-year in March, decreasing from 4.5% in February, while food prices increased 0.6% on the same basis, accelerating from 0.3% in February.

France's consumer spending in February fell 0.1% from January, INSEE also reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast on average a 0.3% rise from the previous month.

The decline was mainly due to a 0.7% monthly drop in spending on food, compared with a 1.0% increase in January, the report showed.

Inflation measured by France's own consumer price index rose 0.8% over the year through March, unchanged from 0.8% in February.

(Reporting by Anna Peverieri. Editing by Aidan Lewis and Mark Potter)