French upper house of parliament, the Senate approved on Tuesday the Socialists' reform of labor code that offers more flexibility to firms and raised costs on employing staff.

The Senate voted 170 to 33 to allow domestic companies to cut salaries, shorten working hours or make layoffs for a limited period during an economic recession, to trim costs and boost competitiveness.

Negotiated with employers and three trade unions in January, the reform will also offer wider rights to workers mainly to the beneficiaries of a very short-term contracts such as facilitating access to training, expanding access to mutual insurance and renewal of unemployment compensation.

In a business climate clouded by a limp growth and persistent financial crisis in the eurozone, President Francois Hollande hoped the new labor reform will contribute to the improvement in French companies' competitiveness and help to reduce joblessness rate by the end of this year.

With a feeble gross domestic product, the second largest European economy recorded 16-year high unemployment rate in March after more than 3.224 million unemployed people entered to its sluggish labor market. Endi