Unemployment in France climbed for a 12th consecutive month in April, with the number of jobless reaching 3.13 million, dpa quoted statistics released by the Labour Ministry as showing Wednesday. The number of jobless registered with the national unemployment was up 7.2 per cent over the past 12 months, the figures showed. Taking into account people with part-time jobs who are looking for full-time employment the number of jobseekers rises to 4.59 million, an increase of 6.4 per cent compared with April 2011. Reacting to the figures Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said tackling unemployment was his government's top priority. Compared with March, the picture was little changed. The number of people out of work in mainland France increased 0.1 per cent, a slower-than-anticipated progression that the labour ministry attributed to the country's presidential election. In the run-up to the April-May election, some companies held off on redundancy plans, the ministry said in a statement, hinting at political pressure by the administration of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.
