France's unemployment rate stood at 8.7 percent in the second quarter, down by 0.2 percentage points from a quarter earlier, the national statistics bureau Insee said on Tuesday.

During the April-to-June period, 2.54 million people were reported jobless in mainland France, 48,000 less than in the first quarter.

With the overseas departments taken into account, the quarterly unemployment rate inched down to 9.1 percent.

Over the period, France numbered less job seekers aged between 15 and 24. A total of 554,000 young people who were previously without work entered the job market in the second quarter, bringing the unemployment rate for this age group down by 0.7 percent.

According to the Insee figures, the jobless rate also declined among unemployed people aged 25 to 49, but remained stable for those aged 50 and over.

When French President Emmanuel Macron took office in May 2017, he inherited a legacy of rampant jobless claims. His pledge has been to lower the unemployment rate to seven percent by 2022.

To achieve this aim, he enacted legislation to lessen rigid labor rules by offering more flexibility to companies to hire and fire and more freedom in terms of pay and working conditions.