France unemployment highest in 12 years

France’s jobless rate is the first big challenge for the new president, Francois Hollande, who pledged to tackle unemployment during his election campaign.

Another 4,300 people joined the jobless register in April, which means about 2.9 million people are out of work – about 10 per cent of the workforce.

Hollande is trying to tackle the problem by challenging eurozone austerity measures.

Al Jazeera’s Tim Friend reports from Paris.