Data released by French statistics body Insee on Thursday showed that France’s unemployment rate has fallen below 10 percent for the first time since 2012. Unemployment on mainland France and its overseas territories fell to 9.9 percent in the second quarter, from 10.2 percent in the previous three months.
Unemployment was the lowest level since the third quarter of 2012, just after François Hollande took office and is boost for the president who staked his political future on creating more jobs. Hollande said he would not stand for re-election in 2017 unless there was a sustained fall in unemployment this year.
Unemployment was down in all age categories, but the fall in youth unemployment was sharper: it fell 0.4 points to 24.3 percent, the lowest since 2014. The percentage of long-term unemployed – those registered as out of work for more than a year – remained stable at 4.3 percent, however.
