Illusion over, France has lost unemployment battle, says Labour Minister

France's unemployment rate has increased by 19,200 people in September according to new data published by the Employment ministry. With the rate rising by 0.6%, there are now 3,43 million people out of work, one of the worst records in French history. 

Job seekers look at boards with job informations at a National Agency for Employment (Pole Emploi) in Nice October 9, 2014. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

There were no nice words just plain facts. France's Labour Minister François Rebsamen said in an interview with daily Le Parisien on Saturday that the country had "lost" the battle against unemployment.

Admitting errors in the government's handling of the crisis, he acknowledged that more could have been done to inform the French population of the real state of the country's coffers.

"There will be no improvement in unemployment in the upcoming months," he admitted, saying for that to happen "there needs to be growth."

France had experienced a minor fall in unemployment in August, but the honeymoon period did not last long. Now, every sector and group are affected.

The situation for the under 25's is as bleak as ever, with unemployment rising from 0.7% up to 1% annually. And for the over 50s, the rate has gone up from 1.1% to 11,2% annually.

The Labour Minister did nonetheless insist that the rate at which unemployment is rising has slowed down, but this hasn't reassured many French people, 84% of which object to François Hollande seeking a new term.

To try and tackle unemployment and reverse the curb, Rebsamen announced that the government will roll out 50,000 more subsidized work contracts- 15,000 of which will go to the under 25s. Analysts estimate it could cost as much as 200 million euros.