UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SOARING IN FRANCE. The French unemployment rate soared to 9.1 per cent in the second quarter of this year, the highest level in more than three years, the government's statistics office INSEE announced Thursday. In the first quarter of 2009, the jobless rate had stood at 8.5 per cent. Read More

INTEREST RATES AT ECB EXPECTED TO REMAIN ON HOLD. The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected Thursday to leave interest rates on hold at their historic low of 1 per cent, but to raise its economic growth forecasts amid signs that the recession could be starting to draw to an end. In particular, this follows the release of figures Wednesday by the European Union's statistics office Eurostat confirming that the eurozone's two biggest economies - Germany and France - climbed out of recession ... Read More