France unemployment slows down but 'reversal not here'

Growth of jobless claims in France slowed down but the government was still in battle to reverse the alarming unemployment rate, French Labor Minister Michel Sapin said on Thursday. "There are signs of slight improvement in terms of growth and jobs, but we must continue the mobilization and continue the effort to be in action," the minister told the local broadcaster Europe1. Admitting that "the reversal (of the jobless curve) is not there," Sapin said "once there is one more unemployed person, it is not satisfactory." Despite signs this month of a fragile recovery, the number of jobless people in mainland France reached a new record in June of 3.279 million, according to data released on Wednesday. More than 14,900 unemployed people entered the sluggish job market last month, or up 0.5 percent from May, a fresh blow to President Francois Hollande who repeatedly expressed determination and clout to bring down the rising jobless trend by year-end via state-financed job contracts and stimulus to improve competitiveness.