Government hails 'great French victory' as unemployment falls to 13-year low

France's unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level since 2008, official data showed on Friday, giving a welcome boost to Emmanuel Macron's economic credentials less than two months from a presidential election. But there is controversy over how the government counts its job-seekers.

The government is rejoicing over the latest unemployment figures. AP - Claude Paris

The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent from 8.0 percent in the last quarter of 2021, France's national statistics agency INSEE said on Friday. 

It's the lowest level of unemployment since the third quarter of 2008, with the exception of an artificial drop at the start of the pandemic because jobseekers could not look for work during a nationwide lockdown.

The forecast had been for 7.6 percent.

Speaking on RTL radio on Friday, economy minister Bruno Le Maire called the downward trend "a great French victory" and said the government reforms and recovery plan had paid off. 

Labour Minister Elisabeth Borne, meanwhile, announced that youth unemployment was at its lowest in 40 years

President Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to seek second five-year term in an election in April, and heads into the vote with one of the strongest economic track records in generations for an incumbent president.

France is the European Union's second-biggest economy and registered 7 percent growth last year.

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However, some members of the opposition and economists cast doubt on the sunny unemployment figures, insisting training schemes and an increase in the number of checks on people claiming benefits had resulted in many job-seekers being struck off.

A study by the IFRAP think tank found that two million people were no longer "counted" as unemployed.

Ça suffit la «baisse du #chômage en 2021» !!! Je rappelle cette analyse de l'IFRAP : «2 millions de personnes dans le halo du chômage et non comptées comme demandeurs d'emplois»https://t.co/MhrFMvCqTC

— Philippe Herlin (@philippeherlin) February 18, 2022

In December, the labour minister herself  confirmed that 18 percent of job-seekers had being temporarily struck off. 

Help for EDF

Le Maire also announced the French state would inject more than 2 billion euros into energy giant EDF which is 84 percent state-owned.

The minister stressed this was not about nationalisation, which some left wing parties have called for.

"We are bringing new money to EDF," Le Maire said, in order to improve the group's financial structure.

In January, the government ordered EDF to sell more cheap nuclear power to rivals to limit a rise in electricity prices and keep the electorate on-side ahead of presidential polls. 

It has capped electricity price increases to 4 percent until April, leaving investors in EDF to take the hit, rather than individual households.

The energy provider said that the government's decision would cost the company up to 8.4 billion euros.