Hollande optimistic about French economy's recovery

French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday that fresh positive domestic and regional economic indicators were backing his optimism about the recovery of the country's economy.

"They (critics) said that I have been very optimistic when I said the recovery has begun and that we were going out from the crisis," reported Xinhua citing Hollande. "It is still very fragile, very fragile but there is something happening in the economy."

During a visit to Roche-sur-Yon in western France to promote the Socialists' roadmap to create jobs, the president reiterated his pledge to reverse the unemployment trend by this year-end.

"We will reach the target," he said, referring to his promise to create 100,000 state-sponsored contracts to help the poorly skilled unemployed youth find jobs.