AFP - French unemployment climbed by 45,000 last month, the finance minister said Monday, four days after the country saw Europe's biggest street protests triggered by the economic crisis.

Speaking in a television interview, Christine Lagarde said official figures would be released later in the day but confirmed the surge in joblessness and said France "will certainly be in recession at some point or another."

France is expected to suffer negative growth in the last quarter of 2008 and all experts forecast that to continue this year. The International Monetary Fund expects the French economy to shrink 1.9 percent in 2009.

Monday's official figures were expected to confirm that France now has around 2,100,000 people of of work and seeking permanent full-time employment, after their number increased by 8.5 percent last year.

Official unemployment numbers had been due for release on Thursday last week, but this was delayed because government statisticians were taking part in a nationwide one-day strike.

More than a million strikers marched across the country to protest against job losses and demand government action.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who came to power 20 months ago promising to cut taxes and trim France's public administration, has announced a 26 billion euro (34 billion dollar) stimulus package.

But he has also vowed to pursue controversial reforms, including a pledge to shrink the size of France's public administration by only replacing one in two state employees who take retirement.