By William Horobin

PARIS--The number of French job seekers declined in April, almost reversing the jump in March, the country's labor ministry said Wednesday.

The number of Category A job seekers--people registered as fully unemployed--fell 1% on the month to 3,471,800.

France's labor minister, Muriel Penicaud--appointed last week by freshly elected president Emmanuel Macron--said she wouldn't comment on the monthly figures, breaking with tradition from her predecessors. The numbers have been closely watched in France as a key indicator of the performance of the French economy.

Ms. Penicaud said the monthly figures are too volatile and don't give an indication of underlying trends.

Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2017 13:04 ET (17:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.