PARIS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- France's unemployment rate fell to 8.7 percent in the first quarter of 2019, down by 1 percentage point from the last quarter of 2018, according to a report published by the French statistics institute on Thursday.
In metropolitan France, the number of jobseekers reached 2.4 million, decreasing by 19,000 from January to March, according to France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
The jobless claims of young people rose by 0.4 percent to 19.2 percent, with unemployment for the 25-49 age group down by 0.2 percent over the first quarter.
Excluding French overseas departments, the quarterly unemployment rate in France's mainland fell to 8.4 percent, marking the lowest level since 2009, the report said.
"The unemployment rate was the lowest in 10 years in the first quarter. The decline continues. Our reforms have effects," tweeted French Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud.
The fall will be a plus for French President Emmanuel Macron before European Parliament elections on May 23-26, where his centrist Republic on the Move party and the anti-EU, far-right National Rally party are neck and neck, with 23.5 percent and 22 percent of voting intentions, respectively.
