PARIS: At the end of January this year, 27,900 fewer jobless claims were recorded in France’s mainland compared to December last year, labor ministry figures showed on Wednesday.
Over the period, 3.552 million people have been reported without job, down 0.8 percent from a month earlier.
“This decrease confirms the tend which has loomed since last summer. Beyond the monthly changes observed in recent months which characterizing a recovery in economic activity, the number of job seekers was stable over the past eight months,” Labor Minister Myriam EL Khmori said.
“The challenge of the coming months is clear: stimulate job creation so that its effects on unemployment will be massive and fast,” she added.
In a fresh attempt to deliver on his pledge to reverse rampant jobless claims, French President Francois Hollande unveiled last month a plan to create more jobs via improving training for 500,000 unemployed people and offering incentives to encourage recruitment.
He aims to lower the number of jobseekers to below 3 million by the end of his mandate in 2017.
