France's new cabinet held its first meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on Thursday, a day after the line-up was announced.

Newly-sworn in French President Emmanuel Macron named a mix of prominent and unknown figures from the left and the right on Wednesday to make up a government that will be tasked with pushing through his plans to reduce labor protections, tighten European unity and boost military spending.

On Thursday, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) reported that France's unemployment rate had dropped in the first quarter of the year to 9.6 percent, the lowest level since 2012, giving Macron a good basis to work on.