By William Horobin

PARIS--French consumer spending dropped unexpectedly in June and further than initially expected in May as households cut back on energy consumption, French statistics agency Insee reported Friday.

Consumer spending in the eurozone's second largest economy dropped 0.8% in June from May while economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected households to maintain spending at the same level. Insee also revised its reading for May consumer spending to a 0.8% decline from 0.7% previously published.

The sharp contraction in consumer spending--usually the main driver of the French economy--dragged economic growth down to zero in the second quarter of the year, statistics showed earlier Friday.

In June, consumer spending on energy dropped 6.3% on the month, the sharpest decline in three years. Spending on manufactured goods rose 0.3%, dragged down by a 1.2% decline on spending on automobiles, Insee said.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2016 03:23 ET (07:23 GMT)