SHARE
COPY LINK

JOBLESS

Unemployment in France continues to rise

The number of jobseekers in France rose for the 27th consecutive month in July to reach a new record, but the Socialist government described the moderate 0.2 percent increase on the previous month as "encouraging".

Unemployment in France continues to rise
Jobseekers que at a job centre in France. Photo: Jacques Demarthon/AFP

The number of jobseekers in France climbed for the 27th consecutive month in July despite a moderate return to economic growth in the first half of the year, the labour ministry said Tuesday.

The number of jobseekers reached 3.28 million people, up 6,300 people from June, but the ministry said that the gain had slowed in the period to a 0.2 percent rise from the previous month and 10 percent year-on-year.

The data was "an encouragement to keep to the road chosen," French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.

But France's right-wing opposition as well as trade unions dismissed the upbeat analysis, attributing any slowdown to subsidised state jobs designed to beef up the numbers.

The leftist union CGT urged the government to "abandon false remedies" while the UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy denounced a cynical "statistic manipulation".

Earlier in August, the finance ministry announced a modest recovery in economic growth of 0.5 percent that it hailed as an encouraging sign of a much needed turnaround.

But despite an end to recession, the unemployment trend has yet to be reversed — a key target of President Francois Hollande, who hopes to achieve this by the end of the year.

The unpopular French leader has repeatedly had to defend his track record since he was elected last year, with polls showing that the economy and jobs are the country's top concerns.

In July, Hollande said the country was through the worst of its economic troubles.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

ECONOMY

Spain’s unemployment rate rises for first time in a year

Spain's first-quarter jobless rate rose for the first time in a year, official figures showed Thursday, mainly due to a lull in the tourism sector.

Spain's unemployment rate rises for first time in a year
Jobless queue outside a job centre in Madrid. Photo: AFP

Unemployment from January to March 2017 stood at 18.7 percent, the national statistics institute INE reported.   

This represents a slight increase from the previous quarter when the jobless rate came in at 18.6 percent after having dropped continuously since the first three months of 2016.

At the end of March this year, Spain counted 4.25 million people without employment, the INE said, adding that the services sector — and to a lesser extent industrial jobs — had been particularly hard hit.

The services sector, which includes hotel and restaurant trade, saw 105,000 more people out of a job in the first quarter, it added.   

Spain's tourism sector is a major engine for growth in the country, but it depends on seasonality and short-term contracts.   

This year, Easter week – a major holiday in Spain that generates many jobs – fell later than previous years and was not included in the first quarter.   

According to the INE, over a quarter of all jobs were short-term in the first quarter, while more than 15 percent were part-time.    

The Eurostat statistics agency says Spain is the country with most short-term contracts in the European Union — a situation that critics say has created instability for many people who go from one contract to another, including highly specialised professionals like surgeons.

And while unemployment has gradually dropped from a high of close to 27 percent at the beginning of 2013 when the economic crisis raged, it is still twice the eurozone average and remains the second highest rate in the European Union after Greece.

The unemployment rate among young people aged 19 to 25, meanwhile, remains high at 38.3 percent.