Consumers have been spending more on cars

Spending was 6.8% higher than in the same period a year earlier, marking the biggest increase since February 2000, statistical office Insee reported.

Analysts said the figures pointed to the resilience of French consumers.

There had been concerns that higher interest rates would have dented spending and slowed economic growth.

The European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates in December to 3.5%.

Analysts said that inflationary concerns may prompt the ECB to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point in the first three months of this year.

Consumers remain the mainstay of growth Dominique Barbet, senior economist BNP Paribas

'Mainstay'

The latest spending figures are in contrast to a survey showing negative consumer sentiment in France last month.

Alexander Law, chief economist at Xerfi consulting, said that the consumer spending data was "incredible".

Dominique Barbet, senior economist with BNP Paribas, said that the figures showed consumers were still the "mainstay of growth" in France's economy.

France, the second largest economy in the eurozone, has been trying to boost growth and analysts said the latest spending figures boded well.

Mr Barbet said that based on the latest consumer figures, France's economy should have grown by between 0.5% and 0.6% in the fourth quarter.

A separate report from the European Union showed that industrial orders for the eurozone beat expectations by rising 1.4% in November from the previous month.

On an annual basis the increase was 6.2% when compared with November 2005.