Dip in support for labour reform protests

Fewer than 40,000 people took to the streets for the third day of protests against President Emmanuel Macron's labour reforms on Thursday, according to government estimates.

The Ministry of Interior said only 37,700 demonstrators took part in marches in towns and cities across the country, including Paris, Toulouse, Lyon, Rennes and Bayonne.

Police said 5,500 took part in the main Paris march between Montparnasse and Denfert-Rochereau - compared to 50,000 on September 21 and 60,000 on September 12. The CGT put the figure for Thursday's demonstration at 25,000.

The militant CGT union, which is the driving force behind the ongoing protests, did not give a specific overall figure, saying only that 'tens of thousands' took part.

But it is much lower than those for the two demonstrations last month. Police said 223,000 took part in marches on September 12, and 132,000 protested on September 21. The CGT said that up to 500,000 joined the first march, and 'several hundred thousand' on September 21.

Thursday's marches came as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe embarked on the second phase of reforms, which focus on apprenticeships, vocational training and unemployment benefits. A bill is expected in April

He said that the first tranche of reforms, signed into law by executive order last month, "have been signed, published, [and] are in force."

But CGT leader Philippe Martinez remained bullish. "We are determined to go all the way," he said at a march in Marseille.

"It is not spectacular, and yet it is part of the construction of the social movement," added Force Ouvrière's Fabrice Le Restif at a protest in Rennes.

Further protests are in the pipeline for November.