French unemployment dips at the start of 2017

The French jobs market improved in the fourth quarter amid a large decline in youth unemployment.

Joblessness in the euro area´s second-largest economy dipped from 10.1% in the third quarter of 2016 to 10.0%, according to INSEE.

Nonetheless, that was higher than the 9.8% which economists had penciled in.

"Persistently high unemployment remains a key story in the French economy. Worryingly, unemployment also rose over the quarter for the prime working age group, people aged 25-to-49, which are likely to be the most productive workers in the worker. The rise in joblessness was strongest among male workers. The upshot is that unemployment for younger workers fell sharply. Overall, we think the unemployment in France will fall further this year, but it remains stubbornly high," said Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.