PARIS: The number of unemployed people in France reached a record high in March, fully reversing a decline recorded at the start of the year.
The number of category A job seekers, which are defined as registered job seekers who are fully unemployed, rose 0.4% in March from February to 3,509,800, data from the labor ministry showed. The previous record high was set in December at 3,500,700.
The numbers are a blow to President François Hollande, who has made bringing down unemployment his number one priority before elections in 2017.
The leader of the center-left Socialists has tried to tackle the problem from multiple angles. He introduced schemes to sponsor jobs for young people shortly after taking office in 2012, and last year he implemented tax cuts for employers in a bid to encourage recruitment. His government’s latest plan is an incentive scheme for young people who take low paid jobs.
So far, the efforts have had little impact. The unemployment rate in France–which is published quarterly by statistics bureau Insee–has ticked upwards throughout Mr. Hollande’s presidency. The latest figures show unemployment stood at 10.4% at the end of last year, and Insee expects it will continue rising to reach 10.6% by mid-2015 as more young people join the jobs market.
The monthly figures Monday showed youth unemployment in particular continues to be a challenge; the number of job seekers under 25 rose 1%, the sharpest increase of any age category.
French labor minister François Rebsamen acknowledged the rise in the number of unemployed people, but said the pace of increase has slowed.
The start of 2015 still marks a period of improvement in the trend, even if it is for the moment insufficient to ensure a regular decline in the number of jobseekers,” Mr. Rebsamen said in a statement.
After Mr. Hollande failed to meet his pledge to get unemployment falling by the end of 2013, his government has recently started to take a more cautious line. Ministers say France can’t expect to bring down unemployment until the economy is growing at 1.5%–gross domestic product rose only 0.4% last year and the government expects only 1% this year.
