French unemployment hits 10-year record topping 3 million

(PressTV) Unemployment in France has hit a new record as the number of jobless people exceeds three million for the first time in a decade.

French Labor Minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday that unemployment figures for August show the joblessness rate rising through the three million level — its highest since 1999.

“These three million unemployed embody the failure of economic and social policies undertaken during the last few years,” the labour ministry said, adding that the country will implement reforms in the near future.

This marks the 16th consecutive month that unemployment rates have increased in France.

France’s unemployment rate is at 10 percent; nearly five million people are looking for jobs in the country.

This comes as a recent opinion poll has indicated that more than half of the people in the European country feel that they live in poverty.

The French president also pledged 30 billion euros (about $38 billion) in tax hikes and freeze in public spending as part of a two-year recovery plan to tackle the rising unemployment rate and to reduce the country’s budget deficit.

The rise in unemployment rate comes as Hollande had vowed to create 80,000 subsidized jobs and hire 60,000 people in the education sector as well as to create a so-called “generation contract” to encourage companies to hire young workers.

GMA/JR