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Jobs data reflects increased economic confidence, French finance minister says

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Jobs data reflects increased economic confidence, French finance minister says

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that economic confidence has returned to France after payroll job creation in the country rose 1.1% year over year in the last quarter of 2017.

According to data released by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, net payroll job creation reached 72,700 in the fourth quarter of 2017 on the quarterly basis, an increase of 0.3% compared to 0.2% growth in the third quarter of 2017. The private sector added 82,300 new jobs in the quarter while the public sector lost 9,600 jobs as the number of subsidized employment contracts declined.

Year over year, net payroll job creation advanced by 1.1% with the private sector adding 277,700 jobs and the public sector trimming 8,900 jobs.

The industrial sector posted its first payroll employment increase since 2001, rising 0.2% quarter over quarter. Construction jobs advanced by 1.0%. In annual terms, industrial sector job growth was almost stable while construction jobs increased by 2.3%, the largest increase since 2007.

"It's proof that the French industry has a future and that the French can be proud of the industrial sector, which is a capable sector with exceptional technologies, know-how and competencies," Le Maire told reporters in Brussels after the release of the job data, Bloomberg News reported.

France's unemployment rate stood at 8.9% on average in the fourth quarter of 2017, down 0.7 percentage point from the previous three-month period.

"It's an excellent result — it's proof that economic confidence has returned in France," the minister reportedly added.