French jobless number surges in October
28-11-2008
The benchmark unemployment indicator in France jumped 2.4 percent in October compared with September, the strongest monthly surge since March 1993, the employment ministry reported. Reacting to the news, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the figures demonstrated "the need for a wide-ranging stimulus plan" based on "support for business investment, which is a lasting guarantee for job creation." The employment ministry said the number of people looking for a full-time job in October and who had not worked more than 78 hours in the month, rose by 46,900 from September to reach a total of 2,004,500. The figures were corrected for seasonal variations.
