Unemployment in France surged to its highest level in over 12 years in March, the labor ministry data showed Thursday, days ahead of the Presidential poll.
The number of registered job seekers in the country rose to 2.88 million in March, the highest total since September 1999. The jobless total was up 0.6 percent from February.
Furthermore, the data showed this was the eleventh consecutive monthly rise in the number of job seekers,
The news comes days ahead of the second round Presidential elections on May 6, when President Nicolas Sarkozy's hopes to get re-elected beating front-runner Socialist Francois Hollande.
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