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France's Hollande approval rating below Le Pen's - poll

President Francois Hollande's popularity falls to the lowest level since he was elected, taking his rating below that of far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

French President Francois Hollande's popularity has fallen to the lowest level since he was elected last May, taking his rating below that of far-right leader Marine Le Pen for the first time, a poll showed, reports Reuters.

Only 31 percent are satisfied with Hollande's performance, eight points less than last month, as the Socialist president battles unemployment at a 13-year high and a stagnant economy, according to the poll carried out for newspaper Metro and TV channel LCI.

Hollande had started his presidency with a 59 percent approval rating in the monthly Clai-Metro-LCI poll carried out by OpinionWay.

Since then, he has been struggling with a promise to halt a rise in unemployment and his government has announced billions in spending cuts.

Hecklers on a tour to eastern France last week shouted: "What happened to the promises?" and "We've been waiting six months for a change!"

Read more of this report from Reuters.