Hollande's popularity hits new low

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande's approval ratings continued to fall for a sixth consecutive month, adding more pressure on the Socialist leader to bring wealth and jobs for Europe's struggling key powerhouse, a survey showed on Sunday.

An Ifop poll for the weekly Le Journal de Dimanche showed Hollande's popularity fell by one point from a month earlier to 41 percent in November.

At his first major press meeting earlier this week, Hollande asked the French people to judge him on his long-term bid to address the country's economic and financial problems.

"The only question that matters is not the state of public opinion today, it is the state of France in five years. My mission is simple: growth, recovery and fight against the unemployment, and it is on these results, these results alone, I ask to be judged by the French," the president said.

The first Socialist president elected in 17 years with nearly 52 percent of support, Hollande has pledged to revive economy, reach balanced public finances and provide jobs to millions of jobseekers.

The president's unpopularity, which are hovering around 40 percent, are mainly the result of France's growing unemployment and the tax hikes introduced by the government to help lower its public deficit.

The French government is forced to collect additional 7 billion euros ($8.92 billion) to reach its defict target of 4.5 percent of GDP this year, and another 33 billion euros to trim the budget gap to 3 percent in 2013.