France jobless rate hits new high

Official figures show that the unemployment rate in France has soared to a new record high in the month of October.

Figures published by the French Labor Ministry showed a rise of 28,400 – or 0.8 percent – in the number of the unemployed people in October compared to September as a result of which a total of 3.46 million people are currently out of job.

“This is the biggest monthly rise since last February,” said Bruno Ducoudre, an economist at the French Economic Observatory think tank.

“Weak growth continues to weigh” on the unemployment figures, he said, forewarning that companies in France are overstaffed, with 230,000 employees required to be laid off.

The French government has predicted a 0.4-percent economic growth for the full year.

Many economists believe an average of 1.5-percent economic improvement is required to reduce joblessness in the country.

France’s new Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron has said that the country is ‘sick with an unemployment fever’, urging immediate economic reforms.

Eurozone’s second-largest economy also strives to reduce its public deficit, which is expected this year to be 4.4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) and is only expected to fall slightly next year to 4.3 percent.

The percentage is far above the threshold of three percent demanded by the European Union. France said last week it predicts that the deficit will not go below the threshold until 2017.

AB/HJL/SS

Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/11/27/387790/france-jobless-rate-hits-new-high/

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