The French employment market will perform better than expected in 2009, according to the government.

Employment minister Laurent Wauquiez has suggested that fewer than 400,000 positions will be lost in the French economy before the end of the year, despite the national statistics bureau INSEE's October prediction that around 500,000 non-farm payrolls will be abolished.

Data published by INSEE so far this year reveals that around 280,000 jobs were lost in the first two quarters of 2009, which has increased the French jobless rate to 9.5 per cent, Reuters reported.

According to the news agency Mr Wauquiez said: "Our objective is to end the year with fewer than 400,000 jobs destroyed."

The French economy has emerged from the recession after reporting its second consecutive gross domestic product rise in the third quarter of 2009.

However, the growth in the eurozone's second largest economy only amounted to 0.3 per cent, which is roughly half of the figure that analysts had anticipated.