Latest update: 26/02/2009 

- economy - financial crisis - France - unemployment


January jobless figures at historic high
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The number of unemployed people in France jumped 90,200 in January (+4.3%), according to figures released by the economic ministry.
Claire PRYDE / FRANCE 2 / France 3 (video)

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AFP - French unemployment soared by 90,000 to around 2.2 million in January, the highest one-month leap since records began, news channel LCI reported Wednesday.
  
The report did not give its source, but the government was due to release official figures later in the day and officials have already signalled that they are expecting a steep rise.
  
Contacted by AFP, employment minister Laurent Wauquiez did not dispute the figure but refused to comment.
  
The global economic storm hit France last year, when an extra 217,000 people joined France's register of jobseekers, an 11.4-percent rise over 2007.
  
This brought French unemployment to more than eight percent, and European Commission experts predict the official rate will hit 9.8 percent by the end of this year and 10.6 percent in 2010.

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