Unemployment rate in France rose more than expected to reach its highest level in more than 13 years in the fourth quarter of 2012, data from statistical office Insee showed Thursday.

The overall unemployment rate rose to 10.6 percent in the fourth quarter from a downwardly revised 10.2 percent in the third quarter. This was the highest rate recorded since the second quarter of 1999, when the jobless rate was 10.7 percent.

Economists expected an increase in the rate to 10.5 percent. In metropolitan France alone, the jobless rate was 10.2 percent, up from 9.9 percent in the previous quarter.

The number of job seekers totaled 3.7 million in metropolitan France. The employment rate of the population aged 15-64 years increased by 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter to 64.1 percent.