After a string of record unemployment figures in recent months, France finally saw a slight improvement in January, with statistics published Wednesday showing 3.48 million people claiming jobless benefits, France24 reported.
The numbers showed a drop of 19,100 people in the jobless queue compared with January, when the figure had reached a record-high 3.496 million.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the figures were "an encouragement to build on".
However, the number of people with limited employment and still claiming benefits continued to rise, up 0.3 percent on January to a record 5.23 million.