French unemployment rises again

French unemployment rose again last month with the Socialist government failing to keep President François Hollande’s campaign promise to reverse its upward rise.

French President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have failed to bring down record unemployment figures Reuters/Philippe Wojazer

With an extra 14,800 jobseekers registering as available for work – a 0.4 per cent rise - the total has reached 3,360,000, about 11 per cent of the workforce, according to official figures released on Wednesday.

Another 4.98 million are partially employed, a 36,400 rise in April.

The total unemployment figure has not gone down since October 2013.

The government reaffirmed its commitment to bringing the number below three million by the next presidential election in 2017.

But it also admitted the morose jobless figures boosted the appeal of the far-right Front National, which beat other parties in last weekend's European elections.