A Tale Of Two Countries

In Germany, despite a jump in May due partly to bad weather, unemployment is close to a reunification low.

In France, it stands at the worst level since records began in 1996, highlighting the growing divide between the eurozone's two major economies.

And Aljazeera is reporting.

Some years ago it was reported that slightly more than half of the entire French work force was employed by the government. I don't know if that is still accurate. If so, the record unemployment rate is even more startling. [Update: a reader clarified some of this for me: Over time the majority of French industry was owned/controlled by the French government from WWII through Mitterand. Over 60 - 70 percent of French manufacturing, mining, transportation, etc., was owned / controlled by the government. Only over the last ten years, or so, has the government been selling off major sectors. That explains where I "remember" the "more than half" figure -- that was some years ago.]