the french economy stagnated in the first quarter as domestic demand remained weak despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions the stagnation of the eurozones secondlargest economy follows 08 growth in the previous quarter french statistics agency insee said friday in a first estimate for the period economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast the economy would grow by 03 on quarter on an annualized basis the economy expanded by 53 in the first quarter spain germany italy and the eurozone are also scheduled to release figures on gross domestic product friday