French unemployment fell to its lowest level in more than a decade at the end of last year. The latest figures show that in the final quarter of 2007, 2.1 million adults of working age were unemployed in France, that is almost 1% fewer than at the same time one year earlier.
The last time the jobless rate was lower was in at the end of 1983. In 1995 it hit 10.7%. For the French mainland the Q4 figure for 2007 was 7.5%.
But Economist Marc Touati points out a discrepancy. He said: "In the fourth quarter the number of unemployed fell by more than 100,000, which is huge, but the number of new jobs only rose by 60,000. That means there is a problem between the fall in unemployment and the creation of jobs."
The figures - which were released three days before the first round of municipal elections in France - were welcomed by President Nicolas Sarkozy centre-right government as proof that its economic policies are working.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said: " I think this trend will last in 2008" but the opposition Socialist party said the number of people retiring accounted for the fall in unemployment. And economists predicted an imminent slowdown in the joblessness decline and pointed out many positions created last year were in the property and financial sectors, both of which are now facing problems.
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