PARIS (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has slipped below a 50 percent approval rating for the first time since he was nominated in a March cabinet reshuffle, a poll showed on Sunday, as President Francois Hollande remained deeply unpopular.
Valls, who replaced ex-PM Jean-Marc Ayrault after the ruling Socialists suffered a bruising defeat in local elections, has presided over an economic policy shift which centered around hefty payroll tax cuts for companies meant to improve their competitiveness. Left-wing unions strongly opposed the move.
