France's fourth-quarter jobless total falls 1.7 percent from third quarter

PARIS(Reuters) - France's fourth-quarter jobless total fell by 1.7 percent from the third quarter, according to data from the Labour Ministry on Monday, offering some relief to President Macron's government as it comes under pressure from a wave of strikes.

The number of people registered as out of work in mainland France fell to 3.309 million in the three last months of 2019 from 3.365 million in the third quarter.

A steady improvement in the jobs market has given Macron some relief in the face of protests against government policies, such as strikes against plans to change France's pension system.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Kevin Liffey)