France's unemployment rate held steady in the first quarter at 9.7 per cent compared to the final quarter of 2010, national statistics office Insee said today.

The latest reading, for all of France including overseas territories, was only slightly lower than a peak of 9.9 per cent registered in the fourth quarter of 2009 during the financial and economic crisis.

However, the unemployment rate for mainland France alone eased marginally to 9.2 per cent from 9.3 per cent in the final three months of 2010.

Less than a year from a presidential election, president Nicolas Sarkozy and his centre-right government are struggling to convince voters that stubbornly high unemployment will keep falling as the economy recovers.

The INSEE statistics office reported unemployment rates of 9.0 per cent for men, 10.5 per cent for women and 23.7 per cent for people under the age of 24.

It revised the overall fourth quarter figure up from a first reading of 9.6 per cent.

Reuters