PARIS—France posted its strongest growth in over five decades last year, hitting 7 percent as the euro zone’s second-biggest economy bounced back from the COVID-19 crisis faster than expected, data showed on Friday. The economy grew 0.7 percent in the final three months of the year after a particular strong third quarter when it grew 3.1 percent, the INSEE statistics agency said in a preliminary report. Economists polled by Reuters had on average forecast fourth quarter growth of 0.5 percent. The better-than-expected end to the year meant the economy grew 7 percent in 2021 as a whole, the strongest since 1969, after an 8 percent contraction in 2020 when strict COVID-19 lockdowns were in force. “The French economy has rebounded spectacularly and that’s erased the economic crisis,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on France 2 television. “There are still some sectors that are still having trouble, like tourism and …