ORIGINAL FRENCH ARTICLE: Chômage 84 % des Français ne croient pas à l’inversion de la courbe
by l’Humanité
Translated Wednesday 30 December 2015, by
While the government again predicts a drop in unemployment figures in 2016, the French prove to be sceptical, according to an Opinion Way poll for Le Figaro, BFM Business, and Axys Consultants, published on Sunday.
Although “the government predicts a sustained and continuous drop in unemployment figures”, 48 percent of people polled considered that the number of people registered with the government agency, Pôle Emploi, would “increase”, 36 percent “stagnate”, and only 15 percent “drop”. This is despite publications by the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE - National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) and the economic research institute, Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE), which affirm that unemployment should start to ebb very slightly in 2016, going from 10 percent to 9.7 percent. However, these predictions are subject to major provisions such as petrol prices and the euro exchange rate. Also, on the condition, asserts the OFCE, that the government does not decide to turn the screws on the budget once again. CM