MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) France's private sector saw a record 64.9 percent drop in the number of employment applications in April, as the economy has been experiencing a shock caused by the COVID-19 restrictions, the Central Agency of Social Security Institutions (ACOSS) reported on Wednesday.
"In April 2020, the number of job applications for [working] more than one month (excluding temporary jobs) fell by 64.9 percent amid the COVID-19 health crisis, after a 24.9-percent decrease from the previous month. The decrease was 73.8 percent for [the past] three months and 73.0 percent for a year," the agency's report states.
The economic slowdown has also resulted in the growth of 34.93 percent in unpaid contributions by private sector companies to the government, which the ACOSS said was at an unprecedented level.
France introduced social distancing guidelines and other restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 in mid-March and began gradually easing them on May 11. As of Wednesday, the French authorities have confirmed 180,933 COVID-19 infections, the seventh-highest total in the world, with the death toll at 28,025.
