Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under pressure to review his response to the economic crisis after more than a million people took to the streets yesterday in the biggest protest since he was elected in May 2007.

“The president said ‘I hear you,’” Jean-Claude Mailly, general secretary of the Force Ouvriere union, said today on La Chaine Info. “I’d rather have ‘I understand you.’ With 2.5 million people in the streets, the president should be careful.”

Sarkozy, whose 26 billion-euro ($33.5 billion) economic- stimulus package to support banks and spur investment was passed by parliament last night, needs to do more to counter rising unemployment and falling purchasing power as the French economy enters its first recession in 16 years, the unions said.

Yesterday’s one-day general strike disrupted transport, closed schools in large swathes of the country and, according to the police, brought 1.1 million people to the streets in cities and towns across France. Unions Confederation Generale du Travail and FO put the number closer to 2.5 million.

While France has a history of street protests, the global financial crisis has sparked similar demonstrations and unrest in countries from China and Greece to Iceland.

Sarkozy responded in an e-mailed statement after the demonstrations, saying the “concern is legitimate” and that he is ready for “dialogue.” Today, his aides say he won’t change his policies.

“No change in direction,” Raymond Soubie, the president’s social affairs adviser, told RTL radio. Sarkozy “will maintain” his economic and social policies, he said.

Popular Backing

The government will, however, respond, Labor Minister Brice Hortefeux said. “We will respond, but not in an immediate, inarticulate way,” he told reporters today.

The strike had widespread backing. About 69 percent of the French people supported the strike, a poll by CSA-Opinion for newspaper Le Parisien showed on Jan. 25.

“French people have turned to their president to say ‘this crisis is serious and we need more protection,’” Stephane Rozes, head of CSA-Opinion, said in an interview today. “Missing that point may bring more social protest.”

The unions have said they plan a meeting on Feb. 2 to discuss further courses of action. Mailly said the unions don’t want to “march every week,” but will ask for a concrete government response and meeting in the next 10 days.

The nation’s eight largest unions joined forces in the strike. Yesterday’s demonstrations drew as many protesters as in the 2006 marches against a disputed youth-work law that was later scrapped. The participation rate as well as the number of protesters also surpassed the November 2007 transport strikes.

Rising Jobless

The number of French jobseekers rose to 22-month high in November as companies, including steel producer ArcelorMittal, carmakers Renault SA, PSA Peugeot Citroen and auto-parts maker Valeo SA, cut jobs.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said today the number of jobseekers in December “will be like in other countries -- bad.” She added that first-quarter growth “won’t be good.”

The European Commission expects the French economy to shrink 1.8 percent this year, the worst performance since World War II. The European Union sees France’s unemployment rate at 9.8 percent this year and 10.6 percent next year.

Since his election, Sarkozy had sought to shrink the number of civil servants, limit unemployment benefits and asked the French to work longer to earn their pensions.

“Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the employment policy,” Bernard Thibault, the head of Confederation Generale du Travail, France’s second-biggest labor union, told France 2 television today. Mailly said the state should ask for a “moratorium” on job cuts in 2009.

To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at Hfouquet1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 30, 2009 09:23 EST