unemployment

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

Official data released Wednesday shows France has 3.424 million jobless, a 0.8% rise on June, and the ninth consecutive monthly increase.

On Monday July 7th the French government began the third of its so-called 'social conferences' in which employer and worker representatives debate plans to tackle the country’s social and economic problems. At stake this time is President François Hollande's much-vaunted but controversial 'Responsibility Pact' aimed at giving a 40-billion-euro incentive to the country's bosses to hire staff and thus cut the jobless total. Here Mediapart looks at the main economic and social indicators which all illustrate the challenges faced by the government; rising unemployment, growing poverty and financial hardship, and the destruction of industrial jobs. Yannick Sanchez and Thomas Saint-Cricq report.

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.

The French labour ministry said the 0.9% increase on January brings the total number of unemployed to 3.348 million, up 4.7% in a year.

French national statistics office INSEE reports an unemployment rate of 10.2% during the fourth quarter of 2013, representing a fall of 0.1%.

Official figures for January show a 0.3% month-on-month rise in number of jobless, bringing the total of registered unemployed to 3.316 million.

Jobless total rose 0.3% in December to record high meaning president failed to deliver his promise to reverse unemployment trend in 2013.

French president used yearly address to employers and unions to insist firms must invest and hire young and older workers to get the labour tax break.

After a dip in October, November unemployment figures show a 17,800 rise while government insists pledge to see reversal by 2014 is on track.

The French president was forced to backtrack after saying his pledge to bring unemployment down by year's end would take as long 'as necessary'.

The number of people registered as jobless in France fell by 20,500 in October - or by 0.6% - to a total of 3.275 million.

Despite jobless numbers rising last month by the highest margin since early 2009, the French president said figures showed 'a clear deceleration'.

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

Number of French jobless reaches above 3.0 million in the second quarter, but the unemployment rate rose by only 0.1 percentage point.