PARIS
The unemployment rate in France has hit a new high with an increase of 5.8 percent in November.
According to figures issued by French Labor Ministry on Wednesday, the number of unemployed people in the country has risen to 3.48 million, an increase of 27,400 unemployed.
The number of job seekers climbed 0.8 percent from the previous month and 5.8 percent compared to November of last year, the French employment agency, Pole Emploi, revealed.
According to National Institute of Statistics forecasts published on Dec.18, unemployment in France is to rise to 10.2 percent by mid-2015, marking the highest level since 1997.
In a speech to mark the halfway point in his five-year term, President Francois Hollande vowed that he would not seek a second term in 2017 if he failed to decrease unemployment by that time.
However, speaking on Tuesday in Saint-Pierre-and Miquelon, French islands off the Canadian coast, Hollande seemed more optimistic.
"We need to fight, so we’re fighting," French daily Le Figaro quoted him as saying.
"Reforms are being made. They are coherent. Much of the public opinion is beginning to see that," he added.
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