French second quarter jobless falls to more than 5-year low

Data from the Labour Ministry on Thursday showed that France’s jobless total fell in the second quarter to its lowest level in more than five years.

The ministry said that the number of people registered as out of work in mainland France fell in the quarter by 14,600 from the previous three months to 3,377,300.

The decline, 0.4 percent over one quarter and 1.9 per cent over one year, brought the total to its lowest level since the first quarter of 2014.

The data offered fresh evidence that France is making progress in tackling its long-running problem with high unemployment.