French jobless total falls slightly in January

PARIS (Reuters) - The number of unemployed people in France fell slightly in January, the first drop since August, as the government tries to spur growth and revive hiring in the euro zone's second-biggest labour market. The Labour Ministry said the number of people registered as jobless in mainland France fell by 19,100 last month to 3,481,600, down 0.5 percent from December and up 4.8 percent over one year. The jobless category that dropped the most was that of men less than 25 years of age. But underscoring the difficulties for older workers, the jobless level for men and women aged 50 or over rose slightly by 0.1 percent from December, increasing 9.6 percent over one year. However, the unemployment tally is expected to keep rising in 2015 by upwards of 100,000, according to an estimate made in January by the UNEDIC public-sector fund that manages jobless welfare benefits. President Francois Hollande failed to live up to promises to turn the job market around in 2014, but has vowed to boost economic growth above a government forecast of 1 percent this year in order to spur employment. Earlier on Wednesday, in a sign that the economy was slowly lifting itself out of stagnation, data showed that French consumer confidence rose to its highest level in nearly three years in February. (Reporting By Alexandria Sage; editing by Mark John)