The number of unemployed in France increased in October by 42,000 from a month earlier, the biggest monthly rise in two years, the Labour Ministry said Thursday, denting the government's hope for good news ahead of regional elections, reports GlobalPost.
That jump, raising the number of jobless people to a total of 3.59 million, has not been seen since April 2013.
On a year-to-year basis, the number of unemployed registered at the unemployment office has risen by 3.7 percent.
"These figures are not satisfying," said Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri in a statement.
She added, however, that they "must be interpreted with care because the results of the past few months have had major variations."
In September, the number of registered unemployed had a net decrease of 23,800, and that was the biggest drop since the financial crisis in late 2007.