Hundreds of thousands of French people have demonstrated again against the new retirement law, and sporadic confrontations broke out between protesters and security forces, while the Constitutional Council is expected to issue a decision on Friday on the constitutionality of the law, which the government passed without a parliamentary vote.

Demonstrators in a number of French cities responded to a call by trade unions for a new day of strikes and demonstrations against the law that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.

France's interior ministry put the number of demonstrators across the country at 380,42, including 400,<> in Paris, while the General Confederation of Labour spoke of more than a million demonstrators, including <>,<> in the capital.

The mobilization appeared to be much lower than in previous weeks, with demonstrators sometimes exceeding one million.

Clashes erupted in Paris between police and protesters against the new retirement law, with authorities saying 44 people had been arrested by security forces and 10 wounded, including policemen.

Clashes also erupted in Nantes (west) and Auriac (centre), where demonstrators burned sculptures of President Emmanuel Macron.

While the protests continue to shrink the scope of strikes, which over the past three months have paralyzed some sectors, especially transport.

According to the authorities, the percentage of employees on strike in the public sector fell to 3.8% compared to 6.5% on April <>.

French authorities deployed large numbers of security forces in the vicinity of the Constitutional Council in anticipation of Friday protests (Anatolia)

Decisive day

The Constitutional Council is expected to announce today its decision on the constitutionality of the pension reform law passed by Elizabeth Bourne's government last month, bypassing parliament.

Authorities deployed large numbers of security forces around the Constitutional Council in central Paris in anticipation of protests.

The police chief in Paris issued an order banning demonstrations in the vicinity of the Constitutional Council from Thursday evening until dawn on Saturday.

Meanwhile, French government spokesman Olivier Veron called for what he described as violence to be renounced in any demonstration against the new pension law today.

Veron noted that the government respects protest movements as long as they are committed to peacefulness.

Recent talks have failed to bring the government and unions closer together.

Last month, the government survived an attempt to withdraw confidence in parliament, while opponents of the new law vowed to continue demonstrating against it.