PARIS (Reuters) – France’s unemployment rate improved in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter, with the rate coming in at 8% compared to a two-year high of 9.1% in the third quarter, the INSEE statistics office said Tuesday.
INSEE said there had been an increase in recruitment, but said the data had also been whitewashed by the second national lockout in France from October 30 to November 15 to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
INSEE said this lockout reduced the number of those who were generally unemployed, making it impossible for them to find work because businesses were closed.
President Emmanuel Macron aims to reduce France’s unemployment to 7% by the end of his five-year term in 2022. He held an unemployment rate of 9.5% when he was elected in 2017.
Reciting with Sudip Kar-Gupta; Edited by Christian Schmollinger