An official statistics report released by the French government revealed that the country's unemployment rate has increased, France 24 reported.
According to the report, which was released by the French Labor Ministry on Thursday, about 3.46 million people in France are jobless. The figures for October of this year hit an all-time high as the unemployment rate increased by .8 percent as compared to the previous month.
This indicates that from November to October, around 28,400 people joined the country's unemployed population.
The findings of the report came as a huge blow to French President Francois Hollande's administration. The president has been struggling with his popularity rating due to the country's failing economy and employment status.
In order to reduce the number of unemployed individuals, economists said the country must maintain at least an annual economic growth average of 1.5 percent. However, for this year, Hollande's government only predicted a 0.4 percent growth, according to Press TV.
France's failing economy and increasing unemployment rate is the primary reason why the country entered an agreement with Russia to build its helicopter carrier naval warships.
Although other NATO nations strongly urged France to rethink the agreement, the nation finalized the deal with Russia agreeing to pay 1.2 billion euro for the massive project, Reuters reported. The deal also generated thousands of job opportunities for France's citizens.
The deal was considered as the biggest arms-related transaction between Russia and a NATO member.
Earlier this week, the French government released a statement announcing that the president has decided to delay the delivery of one of the warships to Russia. Hollande cited the growing tension between Russia and Ukraine as the reason behind the deliberate delay.
"The president of the Republic considers that the situation in Eastern Ukraine still does not permit the delivery of the first BPC (helicopter carrying and command vessel),"the government said in a statement.
"He has therefore decided that it is appropriate to suspend, until further notice, examination of the request for the necessary authorization to export the first BPC to the Russian federation," it added.
