French youths set fire to cars and looted shops in Paris last night in protests against a youth jobs law that Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin had agreed to discuss with unions.
Aides said Mr Villepin would meet senior trade union officials today to try to defuse a crisis that has triggered a national strike threat and drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters on to French streets.
In Paris, riot police fired tear gas in clashes with youths in the Invalides areas near the Foreign Ministry.
Youths wreck a car during clashes with police at the end of a student demonstration in Paris
Youths threw stones at police and set fire to the door of an apartment building in running battles at the end of a largely peaceful rally by thousands of students and workers against the CPE First Job Contract.
Dozens of young people, many wearing masks or hoods, overturned cars, smashed shop windows and robbed student demonstrators of clothes and mobile phones, witnesses said. Police said they had arrested 42 people.
Clashes also erupted in the western city of Rennes, where about 300 to 400 youths battled with police.
Tens of thousands of students marched in cities throughout France, including Tours, Orleans and Marseille, as part of rolling protests designed to maintain pressure on Mr Villepin to axe a contract they say will create "Kleenex workers" whom employers can throw away at will.
Unions have called a one-day national strike for Tuesday to demand the withdrawal of the CPE, which allows employers to fire people aged under 26 at any stage during a two-year trial period, without stating a reason.
In response to a written invitation for a meeting by Mr Villepin, leaders of the five main labour confederations said they would meet the prime minister today, but they reiterated their demand for the CPE to be withdrawn.