PARIS, March 28 - French unemployment rose again in February as companies continued to lay off staff and cut back on costs in response to sluggish business and nervousness about the spectre of a war that ultimately began in Iraq on March 20. The number of people officially registered as unemployed on the basis of International Labour Organisation measurements rose 0.8 percent versus January to 2,489,000, according to figures published by the French Labour Ministry on Friday.
The headline unemployment rate in the euro currency zone's second-biggest economy hit 9.2 percent in February from 9.1 percent the previous month. Economists polled by in advance had predicted that the unemployment rate could hit 9.2 percent.//