French unemployment climbs again in Q1

France's rising unemployment reached 10.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the highest it has been since 1998, according to data released on Thursday from the national statistics institute Insee. The jobless rate in the eurozone's second-largest economy rose by 0.3 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2012, it said. Insee said the figures for fourth quarter 2012 had been revised downward by 0.1 percentage points to 10.5 percent. The figures include France's overseas territories. France fell into recession in the first quarter of the year, and registered a record number of jobseekers in April -- the 24th consecutive month of rising unemployment. The OECD has forecast that unemployment in France will rise to 10.7 percent this year and 11.1 percent next year.