French firms cut fewer jobs than previously thought in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to official figures published today, but not enough to erase concerns over the labour market in the months ahead.
The number of jobs shed in the non-farm sector in the euro zone's second-biggest economy was revised to 20,400, representing a quarterly decline of 0.1 per cent instead of the 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter fall originally reported.
Nearly 80,000 non-farm sector jobs were lost in the third quarter of last year.
Economy minister Christine Lagarde said in a statement that the slowdown in job losses boded well for the rest of the year.
"This evolution confirms that the labour market is in the process of stabilising, something that should continue in 2010."
But some analysts suggested that the performance of France's labour market in the fourth quarter was not as rosy as hoped, given the economy grew 0.6 percent between October and December.
"It is better than expected, but still it is not the news that we had been hoping for," said Alexander Law, an analyst with research house XERFI.
"0.6 per cent growth in Q4 is normally consistent at least with stabilisation so if you are still losing jobs, it shows that companies are still extremely cautious," he said, adding that the mood would probably last throughout the first half of 2010.
Reuters