French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said his government would press ahead with a program of reforms in an effort to boost the country's fragile economic growth and accused some business leaders of fueling anxiety. Valls told his Socialist Party's congress in Poitiers on Saturday that it remained his top priority to reduce unemployment, which remains above 10 percent and rose further in April to a fresh record of 3.54 million people. The prime minister told party supporters that after years of crisis and stagnation, growth was returning, although it was "fragile, still to weak" and also dependent on external factors such as oil and interest rates. "There's this painful paradox of a return to growth without a drop in the number of unemployed," Valls said in a speech. "Reducing unemployment is the thing the French people demand most, and thus it's our first priority." He said his government would meet the challenge and added: "We have to continue to reform, there will be no pause, in order to boost growth further to have more jobs. We have to build a competitive economy." Valls said the government was reducing employee costs and simplifying the labor market, and tackling regulated professions and established regimes that stifled initiative, and that he would present new measures after a meeting with President Francois Hollande on Tuesday, including a major digital law. Hollande, whose popularity rating remains near all-time lows for a French head of state, has said he will not stand for a second term in 2017 unless unemployment has fallen by then. The prime minister also used his speech to criticize certain business leaders and warn them to "honor their commitments". "On the employers side, when I listen to certain leaders from (employers' group) Medef, what do I hear? Constant complaining, a discourse on the fear of hiring that fuels anxiety," he said. He added: "Reform is a necessity." Reforming the labor market is one of the European Commission's key demands for France, while the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has said hire-and-fire reforms should be a priority.
