France added 47,100 jobs in 2015, a 0.3 per cent increase from the previous year helped by a rise in temporary employment contracts in the services sector, said France’s statistical institute Insee on Friday.

Excluding temporary jobs, employment was little changed last year (+2,900 jobs added). The industrial and construction sectors lost about 80,000 jobs last year, writes Anne-Sylvaine Chassany.

The figures underline the challenges facing president François Hollande to fulfill his pledge to curb unemployment of more than 10 per cent of the workforce – a precondition to seek a second term in presidential elections next year.

There are positive signs however: Jobs in the services sector accelerated in the fourth quarter, as employers added 43,100 jobs in the last three months of the year. Half of those jobs were temporary work.