France’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell for the first time in two years in the second quarter as companies began hiring again after the worst recession since World War II.

The jobless rate dropped to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in the three months through March, Paris-based statistics office Insee said. Economists forecast an increase to 10 percent, based on the median of seven estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

France’s economic expansion accelerated to 0.6 percent in the second quarter from 0.2 percent. With growth picking up, companies such as BNP Paribas SA, cosmetics maker L’Oreal SA and computer consultant Cap Gemini have said they are taking on workers. That helped jobless claims decline in both June and July after reaching a five-year high of 2.7 million.

“The job market is stabilizing and we hope that will continue,” Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on LCI television. “This is really good news for the economy.”

French unemployment began climbing as the country plunged into a yearlong recession in 2008. The Finance Ministry predicts a total of 71,000 jobs will be lost in 2010, mostly in the first half, after 373,000 were shed in 2009.

Excluding French overseas territories, the unemployment rate was 9.3 percent in the second quarter, from a 9.5 percent rate in the three months through March, Insee said.