jobless

Number of people registered as out of work rose by 0.4 per cent last month, casting cloud over President Hollande's hopes of economic recovery.

In the first drop since August 2014,  the number of people without work fell 19,100 to 3,481,600, down 0.5 percent month on month.

The 4.3% year-on-year rise in September, revealed on Friday, brought the total number of unemployed in France to 3.432 million.

François Rebsamen said too many unemployment benefits claimants were getting handouts without actively seeking a job.

In all 24,800 people were added to the jobless total last month, marking a new record of 3.388 million without work in France.

As latest forecast says French jobless rise will continue, François Hollande said 'everything has been done' in his pledge to stop it by 2014.

Prime minister Ayrault says deal offers more training to those who need it most: job seekers, less-skilled workers and staff at small firms.

Recordings of CVs aimed at helping youngsters from poorer areas where up to 40 per cent of people under 25 are without a job.

The figures, coming after two years of uninterrupted monthly rises, leave the number of jobseekers at the worst level since records began in 1996.

The jobless rate reached 10.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the highest it has been since 1998, according to the latest data.

Despite the gloomy figures French president insisted he was sticking to a target of bringing down unemployment by the end of the year.

With six million jobless youths in Europe, ministers say priority is to back smaller businesses who 'create the most jobs for young people'. 

Police tried to stop the man, 43, who was declared ineligible for unemployment benefit, but he doused himself in petrol and set himself alight.

The two large eurozone economies both post conflicting signs, with flickers of improvement tempered by steadily rising unemployment.

Figures released Thursday show a rise in the French jobless rate for the nineteenth consecutive month, and the forecast is for worse to come.