The French government will announce new measures aimed at fighting unemployment next month, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday, according to Reuters. Valls, speaking on national television a day after a second round of regional elections, did not spell out specific details but said Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri was preparing a "massive plan" to boost professional education. "We must act quickly. These measures will be ready in January," he told France 2 television. France's unemployment rate rose to 10.6 percent in the third quarter, its highest quarterly rate since 1997. The regional election run-off, in which the conservatives won seven constituencies and the Socialists five, was no real victory for the two mainstream parties, who have been shaken by the far-right's growing appeal to disillusioned voters.
