Unempoyment figure close to three million

YET more bad news for the French economy with a 0.8% rise in June in the number of people out of work.

Official figures show the number registered as seeking work in mainland France rose by 23,700 last month to 2.946 million.

This puts the jobless total at its highest level since August 1999 and the figures show an annual increase of 7.8% in those looking for work.

This disappointing figures came on the same day that the French government announced a plan to help the car manufacturing industry, which supports around half a million workers, and that has seen its European market decline by 23% since 2007.