New nationwide strike hits France
French commuters face a limited rail service because of the strike
Hundreds of thousands of French workers are expected to join the country's second nationwide strike in two months.
Unions are protesting against President Nicolas Sarkozy's economic policies. Unemployment has reached two million and is expected to rise further.
Demonstrations are planned in about 200 towns. Many schools are closed and public transport is being disrupted.
Organisers predict the protest will be bigger than one in January, when more than a million people took part.
"More coaches had to be booked for the demonstrators for example," Bernard Thibault, the head of France's biggest union, the CGT, said.
"More stoppages and strikes have been decided on in companies, so there will be more people," he added.
Marches by strikers are under way in Marseille, Lyon and Grenoble, with a major rally due to be held in Paris from 1300GMT, the French news agency AFP reports.
Beleaguered industries
The strikes began on Wednesday evening with staff on transport networks.
FRENCH UNIONS vs GOVERNMENT
Union demands
Increase minimum wage
Reverse 50% cap on income tax
Suspend public sector job cuts
Measures to protect employment
Government stimulus plan
11bn euros to help businesses improve cashflows
11bn euros of direct state investment
4bn euros of investment by state-owned firms in modernisation
2.65bn euros of tax breaks, and increases in family welfare and short-term unemployment benefits
The national rail operator, SNCF, cancelled 40% of high-speed trains and half of regional services.
A third of flights out of Paris's Orly airport have been cancelled, while a tenth of France's electricity output has been shut down with workers on strike.
However, buses and the Metro rail system in Paris were running normally, thanks to a new law enforcing a minimum transport service during strikes, the AFP reports.
But with many schools and public buildings shut for the day, the number of workers travelling into the capital was reduced.
Private-sector firms were also expecting a depleted workforce, with staff from the beleaguered car industry, oil and retail sectors taking part in the strike.
Rising unemployment
The unions say the 26bn euro ($35bn; £24.5bn) stimulus package for France's struggling economy, unveiled by President Nicolas Sarkozy in December, does not go far enough.
More than one million people rallied in January
A further 2.4bn euros ($3.2bn; £2.3bn) of measures, including tax breaks and social benefits, presented by President Sarkozy after January's strike has failed to placate them.
They want him to increase the minimum wage and scrap his plans to cut public-sector jobs.
Recent polls show three-quarters of French people support the strikers.
Many commuters on Thursday said they backed the action, but hoped it would be short-lived.
"Fundamentally I agree, but too much is too much," one was quoted as saying. "There are strikes in the transport sector too often and we have to put up with them."
President Sarkozy said on Wednesday that he "understands the concerns of the French people" but has ruled out plans for further measures.
Unemployment is likely to shoot up to 10% in the next 12 months with a further 350,000 lay-offs expected by the end of this year.
Many people are angry that big companies like the oil giant Total is making staff redundant while simultaneously announcing record profits, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says.
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