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France's unemployment rate falls again to new 10-year low

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
France's unemployment rate falls again to new 10-year low
Photo: AFP

France's unemployment rate dipped slightly in the second quarter to 8.5 percent, its lowest level in a decade, the national statistics agency Insee said on Wednesday, confirming a moderate downward trend begun in mid-2015.

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On the French mainland, the rate fell 0.2 points compared with the first quarter to 8.2 percent, or 2.4 million jobless. 

The level stood at 8.5 percent when French overseas territories were included, also down 0.2 points over the first three months of 2019 to the lowest level since 2009.

READ ALSO All you need to know about the unemployment benefits you can claim in France

Figures from the first quarter, released in May, showed unemployment at 8.7, which was itself a 10-year record low.

The fall in the number of jobless mirrors the situation in the wider eurozone, where unemployment fell to an 11-year low of 7.5 percent of May.

France, however, has long been one of the poorer performers among major EU economies.

Pro-business President Emmanuel Macron, like his socialist predecessor Francois Hollande, has made bringing down the country's stubbornly high unemployment rate his top priority.

He has loosened the country's labour laws, cut corporate taxes and pushed through a law requiring people to work for longer before claiming unemployment benefits in order to encourage hiring.

Back in March, The Local reported that France's budget deficit had fallen to a 12-year lowof 2.5 percent in 2018, a greater-than-expected decline achieved despite falling growth and purchasing power.
 
The deficit was lower than the government's forecast of 2.6 percent, and came as Insee revised upwards the shortfall between spending and revenue for 2017 to 2.8 percent of GDP, from a previous estimate of 2.6 percent.

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Anonymous 2019/08/14 13:38
Neoliberalist.....sold our nation to the EU capitalists.....merci Monsieur le Président

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