He has blamed austerity for setting back the eurozone's economic recovery.
Robert Hancke of the London School of Economics blames the loss of economic policy control as a result of membership of the eurozone.
"French growth and unemployment do not, did not, and never have depended on a more flexible labour market.
"The problem with France is simple: it is in a monetary union with Germany, a much stronger, better-organised, economy and therefore pays a high cost in no longer being able to control the main levers of economic adjustment, from interest rates via exchange rates to fiscal policy."
Attempts to reform
Membership of the eurozone means some of those levers, in particular interest rates, are in the hands of the European Central Bank, which sets policy for the whole region.
The strains on the government's finances and the eurozone's rules for managing them limit France's room for manoeuvre to use government spending or tax cuts to stimulate demand.
The OECD does say, however, that it's important to consolidate the government finances at an "appropriate and recovery-compatible pace".
In other words, don't overdo it and impose excessive damage on the economy by hitting demand even more in the effort to get borrowing needs down to levels that are sustainable in the long term.
President Hollande has accepted the case for labour reform, and his Labour Minister, Myriam El Khomri, has introduced legislation intended to address some of the things that business voices say make it too expensive to take on new workers. The reforms would:
lower existing high barriers to laying off staff
allow some employees to work more - far more - than the current working week, which is capped at 35 hours
give firms greater powers to cut working hours and reduce pay
That has met protest and the provisions have been amended in response. One supporter of reform said it was turning into a "veritable catastrophe".
It is startling language in light of the standard of living enjoyed by many French people.
But there's no question that the country's disappointing performance is an issue for its unemployed, for its social cohesion and for its European neighbours, who could really do with a strong, vibrant French economy.