French jobless total hits new record, in blow to Hollande

French President Francois Hollande said he was sticking to a target of cutting down unemployment by year-end, after fresh data showed that the number of jobless hit a new all-time high in April.

In a stark illustration of the challenge facing the Socialist president, the 3,264,400 registered job seekers in April marked two uninterrupted years of monthly rises and a 1.2 per cent increase on March.

Nearly 337,000 more people are out of work in mainland France than there were when Hollande was elected in May last year.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1250381/french-jobless-total-hits-new-record-blow-hollande