French unemployment close to 10%

The number of people out of work in France rose 0.3% in the first quarter, rising to 2.75 million or 9.6% of the workforce, the National Statistics Office (INSEE) said Thursday. INSEE said in a statement released here today that the jobless rate affected men and women equally and noted that there were really 3.5 million people who are out of work and want to work but some of these are not necessarily eligible to be on the unemployment rolls. The Statistics Office also noted that unemployment in France has not been this high since 1999. President Francois Hollande, who took office May 16, said that job creation through a policy of bolstering growth would be one of his top priorities. (QNA)