French Unemployment Unexpectedly Drops in Boost for Macron
(Bloomberg) -- French unemployment unexpectedly declined in the second quarter, a sign that President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular labor-market reforms are bringing some results.
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The jobless rate in the euro area’s second-biggest economy fell to 7.3%, according to statistics agency Insee. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the level to be unchanged at 7.5%.
Macron has made “full employment” a core goal of his second term ending in 2027 and a measure of the success of his labor reforms. Yet this summer’s snap legislative election has cast doubt over the French president’s ability to dictate future economic policy: that ballot delivered a divided parliament with no group having a majority and a leftist alliance with the biggest chunk of seats.
The New Popular Front, which includes Socialists, Greens and the far-left France Unbowed, has pledged to unwind key laws including Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age.
The president is yet to appoint a new prime minister who can form a government and has said he will wait until after the Paris Olympics.
France’s outgoing finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, has warned that inertia is harming the economy by hampering small and medium-sized companies’ investment planning and as the caretaker administration’s ability to repair public finances is limited.
Insee’s Friday report showed youth unemployment remained more than double the level of the overall population, though it was down 0.4 points.
Separate preliminary data showed that wages grew 0.6% in the second quarter from the previous three months.
--With assistance from Barbara Sladkowska and Joel Rinneby.
(Updates with wage data in last paragraph.)
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