Jobseeker total in France nears record 3 million

REUTERS - The number of jobseekers in France rose for the 14th month in a row in June to hit its highest level in nearly 13 years, adding pressure on the new Socialist government, which has made fighting unemployment a top priority.

Labour ministry data released on Wednesday showed the number of registered jobseekers in mainland France rose by 23,700 last month to 2.946 million.

PEUGEOT IN THE SPOTLIGHT FRANCE Closing of Peugeot factory an act of 'war', unions say

The jobless total was the highest since August 1999 and marked an increase of 0.8 percent over one month and 7.8 percent over one year.

President Francois Hollande rode to power in a presidential election in May vowing to tackle surging unemployment, but is struggling to halt waves of layoffs with the economy under threat of slipping into recession.

The labour ministry data is the most frequently reported domestic jobs indicator for France, although it is not prepared according to widely used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards nor expressed as an unemployment rate of number of job seekers compared to the total work force.