Hollande announces measure to combat ‘economic state of emergency’

François Hollande on Monday presented his plan to reduce France’s chronically high unemployment with measures described by the press as “playing his last cards” and by the conservative opposition as “an insult to the jobless”.

Hollande, the least popular French president in recent times, has vowed not to stand for a second term in 2017 if he fails to reduce unemployment.

Since he came to office in 2012, unemployment has risen by 650,000. There are now 3.57 million jobseekers in France who have no work whatsoever, representing just over 10% of the workforce .... http://www.france24.com