French PM says Macron has mandate for ambitions labour reform

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a speech during the annual gathering of French Ambassadors at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Yoan Valat/Pool

PARIS (Reuters) - France's prime minister said planned labour reforms unveiled on Thursday were "ambitious" and "balanced" and made necessary by decades of high unemployment. He acknowledged differences with unions persisted but said new President Emmanuel Macron and his government had won a popular mandate for change. "No one can say current labour rules help jobs," Edouard Philippe told a news conference as he revealed details of the reform package. Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud said: "This is a transformation of labour rules on an unprecedented scale." (Reporting by Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose; editing by Richard Lough)