http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7951949.stm

Hundreds of thousands of French workers have begun protests across the country during a nationwide strike.

Schools are closed and public transport is being disrupted, with demonstrations organised in about 200 towns.

Unions are opposing President Nicolas Sarkozy's economic policies. Unemployment has reached two million and is expected to rise further.

Organisers predict the protest will be bigger than one in January, when more than a million people took part.

Union members marched towards Nation in Paris behind a banner that read: "United against the crisis, defend employment, spending power and public services."

Police said there were about 85,000 people at the rally, according to the AFP news agency.

"They have a profound sense of social injustice, and that, I think, is something that neither the government nor the employers have understood," said Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the large Force Ouvriere union.

Marches are also being held in Marseille, Lyon, Grenoble and many other towns and cities.

It is the second time in two months that major demonstrations have been held, following a similar display in January.

Beleaguered industries

The strikes began on Wednesday evening with staff on transport networks.

The national rail operator, SNCF, cancelled 40% of high-speed trains and half of regional services.

A third of flights out of Paris's Orly airport have been cancelled, while a tenth of France's electricity output has been shut down with workers on strike.

However, buses and the Metro rail system in Paris were running normally, thanks to a new law enforcing a minimum transport service during strikes,.

But with many schools and public buildings shut for the day, the number of workers travelling into the capital was reduced.

Private-sector firms were also expecting a depleted workforce, with staff from the beleaguered car industry, oil and retail sectors taking part in the strike.

Rising unemployment

The unions say the 26bn euro ($35bn; £24.5bn) stimulus package for France's struggling economy, unveiled by President Nicolas Sarkozy in December, does not go far enough.

A further 2.4bn euros ($3.2bn; £2.3bn) of measures, including tax breaks and social benefits, presented by President Sarkozy after January's strike has failed to placate them.

They want him to increase the minimum wage and scrap his plans to cut public-sector jobs.

Recent polls show three-quarters of French people support the strikers.

Many commuters on Thursday said they backed the action, but hoped it would be short-lived.

"Fundamentally I agree, but too much is too much," one was quoted as saying. "There are strikes in the transport sector too often and we have to put up with them."

President Sarkozy said on Wednesday that he "understands the concerns of the French people" but has ruled out plans for further measures.

Unemployment is likely to shoot up to 10% in the next 12 months with a further 350,000 lay-offs expected by the end of this year.

Many people are angry that big companies like the oil giant Total is making staff redundant while simultaneously announcing record profits, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says.