French third quarter economic growth picks up, but weaker than expected at 0.4 percent

PARIS (Reuters) - French economic growth picked up in the third quarter, albeit not as much as expected despite a rebound in consumer spending and a stronger business investment, according to data from the INSEE official statistics agency.The euro zone's second-biggest economy grew 0.4 percent in the quarter, up from 0.2 percent in the previous three months, INSEE said on Tuesday in a first estimate for the July-September period.However, the reading fell slightly short of an average estimate..