* Jobless claims up by 16,600 in March ahead of election
* Surging unemployment tarnishes Sarkozy’s record
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By Leigh Thomas
PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) – The number of jobless people in
France rose for the eleventh month running in March to hit the
highest level since September 1999, putting another dent in
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s economic record as he battles to get
re-elected next month.
The labour ministry data released on Thursday showed the
number of registered jobseekers in mainland France rose by
16,600 to 2.88 million in March, up 0.6 percent on the month and
7.2 percent on the year.
The increase was the latest reminder of how weak the labour
market remains in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy ahead
of a May 6 presidential election which polls tip Socialist
candidate Francois Hollande to win by a wide margin over
Sarkozy.
After four years of economic crisis which have left surging
unemployment, record debt and limp growth, Sarkozy is struggling
to persuade voters that he is the best candidate to lead the
country towards the path of recovery.
Under Sarkozy’s watch the jobless total has risen by nearly
750,000, and Hollande and his camp rarely miss an opportunity to
point this out.
Top Sarkozy aide Henri Guaino blamed the increase in
unemployment on the economic crisis and stressed that it was not
limited to France.
“It’s so much worse elsewhere. We’ve managed in France to
limit a bit the increase of unemployment compared to elsewhere,”
he said on iTele TV. “Sarkozy has protected the French as best
as he could against the impact of a catastrophic crisis.”
Unemployment frequently ranks as a top concern for voters
and has been a major theme of the campaign, which has seen
Sarkozy’s government battle to prevent high-profile industrial
shutdowns.
His office signalled on Thursday that the state was prepared
to aid security firm Neo Securite, which employees 5,000 people
and is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
Sarkozy wants to tackle unemployment by tightening access to
benefits so that the jobless can no longer turn down job offers
or training after a certain period out of work.
In contrast, Hollande wants to reduce unemployment with a
scheme to cut social charges on companies that promise to hire a
person aged under 30 while keeping on an employee over 50. His
camp estimates the measure would cost 2.3 billion euros ($3.04
billion) over the next five-year presidential term.
Hollande has pledged to bring unemployment down over the
course of the next year, but refuses to commit to a specific
target.
The monthly labour ministry data is the most frequently
reported domestic jobs indicator for France, although it is not
prepared according to widely used International Labour
Organisation (ILO) standards nor expressed as an unemployment
rate of number of job seekers compared to the total work force.
($1 = 0.7559 euros)
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Geert
De Clercq)
