French Officials Say Pension Protests Losing Momentum

Protests have paralyzed France

France's Interior Ministry says there is a clear drop in the number of people coming out to protest the country's planned raising of the minimum pension age.

The ministry said that around 198,000 people demonstrated in France on October 28, despite turnouts that reached 2.5 million people in earlier protests last month.

Today's rally is the ninth in a series of protests, that previously threatened to paralyze the French economy but now appear to be losing momentum after the government's proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 completed passage through the French parliament on October 27.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will approve the law on or around November 15.

compiled from agency reports