Despite some modest signs of economic recovery, French unemployment figures climbed to a historic high of 3.53 million people in April, according to official figures released on Monday, according to France24.

Unemployment rose by 0.7 percent in April, meaning an additional 26,200 people joined jobless queues, France’s labour ministry revealed.

Labour Minister François Rebsamen announced that the government would offer 100,000 new subsidized work contracts in 2015 in response to the data, in addition to 450,000 similar contracts currently being offered.

The statistics were a fresh blow to the government of President François Hollande who has pledged not to seek a second term in office in 2017 if he fails to reverse the upward jobless trend.