France’s unemployment rate has fallen below 10% for the first time since 2012, offering a boost to François Hollande, who staked his political future on creating more jobs.
Advertisement
The unemployment rate in France reported a decrease of 0.3 percentage points to 9.6 percent during the second quarter of 2016 compared to a quarter earlier, the lowest level since 2012, the national statistical authority Insee said on Thursday.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. The unemployment rate for mainland France, excluding its overseas territories, dipped below 10 percent in the fourth quarter of past year.
Mr. Hollande’s failure to reach his jobs target has contributed to making him France’s most unpopular leader on record, opinion polls have shown.
A total 1.2million have been looking for work for more than a year.
Unemployment is an important indicator in France as President Hollande has been dogged by rising unemployment throughout his election mandate and has said that he will not run for re-election in May 2017 if unemployment does not start down-trending.
“The unemployment rate decreased across all age groups, particularly among youths”, the statistics agency said.
Advertisement
Still, economists are cautious over whether the measures are sufficient for the decline in unemployment to continue.
