French unemployment hits new record

Unemployment in France has risen for the eighth consecutive month to 11 per cent of the workforce, leaving President François Hollande’s promise to reverse the upward trend unfulfilled.

A French labour exchange Reuters/Benoit Tessier

The number of unemployed rose by 0.3 per cent in June, according to official figures published yesterday, meaning that 10,000 more people are looking for work.

This represents an all-time high of 3,4 million, about 11 per cent of the workforce.

There has been a month on month rise in unemployment since October 2013.

The Socialist government is failing to keep President François Hollande’s campaign promise to reverse the upward rise and the Responsibility Pact, which will cut employers’ social security contributions in exchange for promises of job creation, has so far failed to bear fruit.

One piece of good news is that youth unemployment went down by 0.3 per cent – 1,400 people.

The government has promised to bring the unemployment down to below three million by the next presidential election in 2017.