French jobless rate rises to record high since 1998

Official figures show that the unemployment rate in France increased in the first quarter of 2013, reaching its highest point since 1998.

According to data released by France’s national statistics institute, Insee, on Thursday, the jobless rate rose to 10.8 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The institute added that the unemployment rate in the eurozone’s second-largest economy jumped by 0.3 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.

On May 30, the French Labor Ministry said the number of the unemployed people in the country reached a record high of 3.26 million in April.

The ministry said the number of registered jobseekers in France increased by 39,800 in April, marking the 24th consecutive monthly rise. The increase is equivalent to 1,326 new jobseekers per day and represented a 12.5-percent rise over a year ago.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has also forecast that unemployment in France will climb to 10.7 percent in 2013 and 11.1 percent the next year.”

The high unemployment rate is considered a major challenge for Socialist President Francois Hollande, who has pledged to curb unemployment from the current level of more than 10 percent to a single-digit figure by December this year.

Hollande’s popularity, which had already been affected by the poor performance of the country’s economy, is shrinking to record lows.

According to the TNS Sofres poll for the Le Figaro magazine, Hollande’s popularity dropped to 30 percent in February 2013, making the socialist leader the least popular French president since 1981.

Europe plunged into a financial crisis in early 2008. The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms.