Paris  - The French labour market shed nearly 80,000 jobs in February, the Labour Ministry announced on Wednesday.

As a result of the tenth consecutive monthly rise in French unemployment, more than 2.38 million active job-seekers are now registered as unemployed in France.

The announcement follows France's worst-ever monthly increase in unemployment in January, when more than 90,000 new jobless were registered.

The French government is predicting the loss of some 300,000 jobs for 2009, but many observers feel that this forecast is far too optimistic.

Paris - French-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM said on Wednesday that it had completed its takeover of 25 per cent of the capital of the Italian airline Alitalia.

Air France-KLM is paying 323 million euros (436 million euros) for its share, but the company said it in a statement that the partnership would provide it "greater access to the Italian market."

Paris - The French government has delivered an ultimatum to companies on proposing a framework for bonus and other payments to their executives or the state will impose santions, a close adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday.

The companies have until March 31 to come up with proposals, Henri Guaino told France Inter radio. "This is not an invitation; it's an ultimatum.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday said that there should be no more severance payments or bonuses to executives of French firms who have performed badly.

"There must be no more 'golden handshakes'. There must be no more bonuses or rewarding of free shares or stock options in a company that receives state aid, that undertakes massive job cuts or resorts to putting large numbers of its employees on short-time work," Sarkozy said in an address in the northern city of Saint Quentin.

Paris - The French government has reacted with anger to the report that the outgoing head of the auto equipment supplier Valeo is to be given 3.2 million euros (4.34 million dollars) as severance payment, French media reported on Tuesday.

Government spokesman Luc Chatel said that the state, which owns 8 per cent of the company's capital, would at the upcoming shareholders' meeting vote against the payment to outgoing CEO Thierry Morin.

Paris - Despite errors by banks that provoked the global finance and economic crisis, authorities in individual nations must retain control of supervision of their banks, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

"We are agreed with (having common regulations across Europe). But as for the individual supervision of banks, national authorities retain the supervision and I think it should remain like that," Brown said in an interview published in the French daily La Tribune.