Unemployment in France has risen unexpectedly strong in August. The government blames terrorism for this development.
Francois Hollande Photo: DPA
Originally appeared at DWN, translated by Karin exclusively for SouthFront
After a slight decline in July the number of unemployed has risen sharply again in France. The Labor Department announced on Monday 3.56 million people were out of work in August, that is 50,000 more than in July. This represents an increase of 1.4 percent – last time it was seen that high was in January 2013. In France, including its overseas territories, 3.81 million people were unemployed according to the Ministry.
The government made the terrorist attack in Nice in July and the murder of a priest in the Normandy, committed by jihadists, partly for the rise in unemployment responsible. The tourism sector in fact registered since then a significant decline of income.
These figures represent a setback for President Francois Hollande. The unpopular president had made his renewed presidential candidacy depending from the decline in unemployment. But within one year, the number of unemployed declined by only 10,900 people, the rate was 9.6 percent in the second quarter.
Hollande’s conservative predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, who has already announced his candidacy for the presidential elections in April, blames the economic policies of the Socialist government for the poor figures. There are lacking “common sense”, he explained.
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