Despite falling unemployment and a high profile internationally, the number of people with a favorable opinion of the 40-year-old former investment banker dropped three percentage points in March to 40 percent, the BVA poll showed. Frustrated over Macron’s wide-ranging labor and welfare reforms, nurses, teachers and other public sector workers walked off the job on Thursday over concerns about his plans to cut their headcount and introduce merit-based pay. His popularity with voters over 65 years old fell below 50 percent for the first time in March, dropping to 47 percent. Opinion polls indicate that though a majority of voters backed Thursday’s strike, an even bigger majority support the reforms. The BVA poll was conducted among more than 1,000 people on Wednesday and Thursday for telecoms group Orange, RTL radio and website La Tribune.

Source: bd News24 March 23, 2018 05:03 UTC