French GDP falls short of rate needed to cut jobless number

French economic growth this year will fall short of the 1.5% economists say is the minimum needed to lower persistently high unemployment, the country’s central bank governor has said.

This spells trouble for President François Hollande, who has staked his bid for re-election in 2017 on a promise to reduce joblessness, which remains stuck above 10%.

Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau’s prediction comes a day after Mr Hollande’s government was forced to water down some of the pro-business labour reforms it hoped would encourage employers to hire staff.