Coupled with the fact that unemployment benefits in the country are higher than the vast majority of world, it makes for an environment where many potential workers see being unemployed as a far more attractive option. That clearly isn't conducive to strong growth. Add to this, the fact that wages in France are unresponsive to changes in unemployment, and it creates a job market where costs are simply too high. Here's HSBC once again:

Putting this all together, the high cost of labour is significantly hampering the competitiveness of the French economy. Indeed, unlike several other countries, France has not significantly curbed the growth in its unit labour costs since 2008, which has led to a loss of competitiveness compared to many of its main trading competitors.

On top of this, while most European countries have seen employment protection restrictions lessen in recent years, protections in France have actually increased since the turn of the century, driven in part by high levels of advocacy by workers. Right now, for example, French air traffic workers are striking against plans to relax the 35-hour work week.