National statistics office INSEE said the quarterly jobless rate in all of France, including overseas territories, declined to 9.7 per cent in the second quarter from an unrevised 9.9 per cent in the first quarter.

Coming ahead of nationwide protests next week over the government’s plans to reform its heavily-indebted pay-as-you-go pension system, the data offered some hope of a boost in consumer confidence that may help to calm current anxieties.