PARIS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Thursday voiced his confidence at a lower jobless rate in 2011 on the back of strong economic growth, local media reported.. n7 @8 v' R8 L- _
"We had an extremely serious crisis which had caused a rise in jobless rate over the world and particularly in Europe. But, now we're on the path of recovery," Fillon was quoted as saying.
% q2 j: `" V& ~" I1 g# c- T "If we do not have an accident in terms of the sovereign debt crisis, and if we'll try everything to avoid them, 2011 will be a year of recovery and I am convinced that in 2011 we will reduce unemployment due to strong economic growth and the measures we have taken," he said.
A. | P3 k# j/ J- M0 t2 m9 x Fillon stressed the need to bolster economic competitiveness so as to create enough jobs for its young job seekers.$ [$ I& b( Y* p$ S& O
"The most important thing is to continue improving the competitiveness of the French economy," he said. "There is no magic solution to create jobs.": y; D: a5 [3 M; a. r; u" n+ J
According to the labor ministry, 27,100 new job seekers poured into the slack labor market in December from a month earlier. The total number of unemployed citizens rose by 1 percent to near 2.73 million in France's mainland, up 3 percent on a year-on-year basis.- O9 v, ]% J0 n% }- |7 {0 M I: I4 p
Jobless rate in France was unchanged at 9.3 percent during the third quarter this year from the previous three months. Officials expect the figure to drop to 9 percent this year on better economic growth. |