France

Unemployment in France rose to its highest level in nearly 16 years in the third quarter, dealing a fresh blow to President François Hollande who has pledged to bring unemployment down by the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Unemployment in the euro zone's second-largest economy rose to 10.9% in the third quarter, from 10.8% in the second, according to data published Thursday by national statistics agency Insee. The rate hasn't fallen since the beginning of 2011, bringing joblessness in France to a level not seen since the beginning of 1998.

France‘s second-biggest courier company was placed under receivership Tuesday, four days after it filed for bankruptcy, with the threatened loss of 5,200 jobs, Europe Online magazine reported. The bankruptcy of Mory Ducros is one of the biggest in France since the collapse of Moulinex household appliances maker in 2001. The company was given six months to overcome its difficulties or find a new owner.

Top shareholder Air France-KLM refused a plea for cash on Thursday to rescue Alitalia, saying a new business plan was not enough to save the stricken Italian carrier unless its creditors also write off some of its huge debts, Reuters reported. Alitalia, which was privatised in 2008, has been unprofitable for more than a decade and has been stuck in a months-long tussle with Air France-KLM over whether to keep their strategic and financial partnership alive.

Air France-KLM, the French-Dutch airline, said Thursday that it had written off the entire value of its 25 percent holding in its partner Alitalia, raising doubts that it will take part in a plan to inject 300 million euros into the struggling Italian flag carrier, The International New York Times reported.

The French government bowed to taxpayer anger Tuesday for the second time in three days by suspending a new levy on trucks, raising new questions about President François Hollande's strategy to fix public finances primarily through higher taxes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Following a weekend of violent clashes between police and farmers opposed to the new levy, the government said the so-called "eco-tax," which aimed to raise €1 billion ($1.37 billion) a year to finance more environmentally friendly transport, won't come into effect in January as planned.

France's Hediard chain of luxury food stores has filed for bankruptcy, a source close to the case told AFP on Monday, France 24 reported. Hediard, which has shops in 30 countries from Madagascar to Vietnam, declared itself insolvent at a commercial court in Paris, said the source. A hearing is due to take place on Thursday to determine whether an administrator should be appointed. The fine foods and confectionery stores opened in 1854 in Paris as a small shop specialising in exotic foods and soon began expanding.

Despite previous calls by France’s Socialist government to rein in financial markets, the government’s firm stand against a proposal to tax intraday trading is yet another sign of its waning political will to curb speculative trading, and force the financial sector to significantly contribute to public finances, The Wall Street Journal Money Beat blog reported.

The chief executive of Air France-KLM, the largest foreign shareholder in Alitalia, said on Wednesday that he had not ruled out the possibility of participating in a fresh bailout of the struggling Italian flagship carrier as it scrambles to produce a plan to shore up its dwindling cash reserves, the International Herald Tribune reported. But given the weak financial position of the French-Dutch group, which owns 25 percent of Alitalia, any assistance would be subject to strict conditions, he said.

In France, clear signs of recovery are confounded by other indications that the country is still struggling to get back on a sustainable growth path, the Financial Times reported. This week, as the government prepared to unveil its full 2014 budget on Wednesday, the September Markit purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing and services showed a move back into growth for the first time in 18 months. The OECD club of rich countries recently forecast that the economy as a whole would grow by 0.3 per cent this year – against its previous projection of a 0.3 per cent contraction.

Air France-KLM will strengthen its role in Italian airline Alitalia SpA, Italian transport minister Maurizio Lupi said on Monday, Reuters reported. "I expect that Air France will strongly reaffirm that Alitalia is a strategic asset for Air France, and therefore that there will be a strengthening of Air France's role," Lupi said at the margins of an industry conference in Milan.