French non-farm payrolls decline most in 40 years

Published: 12/03/2009 05:00


French companies shed the most jobs in 40 years in the fourth quarter as manufacturing slumped and employers braced for the worst recession since World War II.
Payrolls, excluding government employees, farm workers and the self-employed, dropped by 117,300, or 0.7 percent, to 15.89 million, the Finance Ministry said today in Paris. The decline is larger than originally estimated on Feb. 13, when the ministry said payrolls fell by 88,700, or 0.6 percent. âIt is going from bad to worse,â said Maryse Pogodzinski, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Paris. âWe thought the first quarter would show an improvement, but looking at Januaryâs industrial production in France and most likely in Germany, and at unemployment, I doubt it very much now.â LâOreal SA, PPR SAâs Conforama, Rio Tinto Group and carmakers Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen are scaling back production and shedding jobs to confront the slump. President Nicolas Sarkozyâs multibillion-euro package of tax cuts and incentives to support companies may not be enough to boost an economy that the government forecasts will contract 1.5 percent this year. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in January that joblessness will keep rising as growth deteriorates, and manufacturersâ confidence remains at a record low. Source: Bloomberg

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