Boost as jobless numbers fall

FRANCE’S unemployment figures fell by 20,500 last month, the first real drop since 2011, new figures show.

The figures also show the number of jobless young people fell for the sixth month in a row.

A total of 20,500 fewer people signed on the Category A register in October. This category refers to people who are seeking full-time, permanent–contract jobs, who had not worked more than

78 hours in the previous month.

President Hollande, who initially greeted the results with a low-key reply saying the “battle must be fought month by month and will take as much time as necessary”, later accepted that it

was, indeed, good news and said: “Today’s figures show the battle for jobs can be won.”

Following the debacle of the August jobless figures, where a surprise fall was almost immediately blamed on mistakes in the statistics, he had been unwilling to make big claims, but admitted

that the figures were “in line with the commitment I made at the beginning of the year” [to reverse the jobless curve by the end of 2013].

Labour Minister Michel Sapin said: “The inversion of the curve is under way.”

The figures are the first fall since April 2011, but Mr Hollande said that he would not forget that there were “still 3.27million people still signed on at the Pôle Emploi”. This puts

unemployment at 10.9%.