S&P downgrades France over unemployment fears

Standard & Poor's has downgraded France's credit rating from AA+ to AA.

The ratings agency said problems existed due to weak economic growth, high unemployment and constraints on government spending. It felt these factors were likely to mean the French government would find it hard to push through economic reform. Unemployment was a particular concern as it now stands at 3.3m people, 11% of the population, and S&P predicted it would not reach below 10% until 2016. The agency said the unemployment rate was "weakening" support for financial reform and "depressing" long-term economic growth. The French finance minister Pierre Moscovici said he "regretted"...