French unemployment ticked up in March for the 11th month in a row, and is now expected to hit 9.7% by June—its highest rate since 1999. This is the kind of lousy news that could only have a silver lining if it shaped a national consensus in favor of serious reform of the country’s restrictive labor laws. Don’t get your hopes up.

When the numbers came in on Friday, Les Echos published an interview with Prime Minister François Fillon, asking why President Nicolas Sarkozy was proposing “nothing in the way of labor-market reform” as part of his re-election bid. Mr. Fillon replied by touting his boss’s proposal to give companies the freedom to negotiate salaries, working-times and conditions at the company level, provided a majority of unions agree—a “major” new “element of flexibility,” according to Mr. Fillon. Mr. Sarkozy has also promised to reform unemployment insurance to put increased pressure on job-seekers to accept whatever work they can get.

These aren’t trivial reforms, and French companies would certainly welcome being a little less wedged in to some of the pan-sectoral agreements that have maintained rigid and expensive mandates in the French workplace. Yet the changes would still leave more than 3,000 pages of the notorious French labor code, which legislates everything from paid paternity leave to conditions for working at night. Businesses and workers alike would still have to navigate between more than 80 different types of permissible contracts—each with their own rules for recruitment, renewal, trial-periods and termination.

And that’s just now. In his interview, Mr. Fillon pointed out that François Hollande, Mr. Sarkozy’s Socialist rival, would do away with the few reforms the current government has passed, such as tax cuts for overtime pay and pension contributions.

With just a week to go before the election, there isn’t much time for Mr. Sarkozy to offer fresh thinking about what he can do about France’s chronic lack of economic growth and opportunity. Little wonder he spent the weekend talking tough about immigration and Dominique Strauss-Kahn (remember him?). But whoever wins on May 6, France’s unemployment rate is going to remain a topic that can neither be switched nor wished away. Any government that fails to address it will eventually find itself on the losing side of an electoral ballot.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page 16

Por ERIN MCCARTHY

Uma das operações cambiais mais populares está de volta à moda, graças ao contínuo esforço do Japão para baixar o valor do iene.

Conhecida como “carry trade” do iene, a transação consiste em tomar dinheiro emprestado em ienes, a juros baixos, e trocá-lo por moedas de países de juros altos, como Austrália, Canadá e México, lucrando com a diferença. Os investidores também podem realizar o carry trade tomando emprestado ienes a juros mais baixos, e comprando títulos denominados em moedas de maior rendimento, como papéis de dívida pública de países como Brasil e México.

Essas transações foram muito populares, e lucrativas, durante boa parte da década de 90, embora não tanto nos últimos anos. Isso porque a política monetária permissiva dos bancos centrais, nos Estados Unidos e na Europa, manteve os juros dos empréstimos para os bancos artificialmente baixos, encorajando assim o uso de dólares e euros em vez de ienes.

Mas o iene está se tornando mais atraente para financiar essas operações, dizem os investidores. O que se prevê é que o banco central japonês continue inundando o mercado com ienes, refreando o valor da moeda e as taxas de juros. O iene já caiu 8% em relação ao dólar este ano. Ao mesmo tempo, os investidores estão reduzindo suas previsões de quanto tempo o Federal Reserve, o banco central americano, ainda vai injetar dinheiro no sistema financeiro dos Estados Unidos. Com isso, o rendimento das notas do Tesouro americano teve um aumento, embora mínimo.

Uma moeda em queda é a chave do carry trade, pois significa que os investidores terão menos a pagar quando liquidarem seu empréstimo.

Isso tem feito com que o carry trade em ienes fique “muito, muito mais em voga”, disse Douglas Borthwick, diretor-gerente da Faros Trading, de Stamford, no Estado americano de Connecticut.

Borthwick enviou uma recomendação aos clientes em 31 de janeiro para comprar dólares canadenses com ienes. Essa transação desde então já rendeu cerca de 11%, disse ele.

O carry trade tem visto algumas moedas subir muito em relação ao iene. O peso mexicano saltou quase 20% em 2012, em comparação com um ganho de 9% em relação ao dólar. O rand sul-africano subiu 16% contra o iene e quase 7% contra o dólar, enquanto o real brasileiro subiu 11% contra o iene e 2,5% contra o dólar.

Na semana encerrada em 13 de março, os especuladores fizeram sua maior aposta, desde abril de 2011, na desvalorização do iene frente ao dólar. No mercado de futuros, as apostas numa baixa do iene superaram as posições de alta em US$ 6,4 bilhões, segundo a Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Nos anos 90 e no início da década de 2000, o iene era a principal moeda usada para financiar carry trades, pois os juros no Japão estavam bem abaixo do de outros países. A diferença se tornou menos gritante durante a crise financeira, quando os bancos centrais dos EUA e Europa cortaram suas taxas de juros.

Os investidores ainda estão usando dólares e euros para realizar carry trades, e isso provavelmente continuará enquanto os juros continuarem baixos nos EUA e na Europa.

“Se todas elas têm taxa zero, por que não financiar nas três moedas?”, disse o presidente de Gestão de Ativos da Goldman Sachs, Jim O’Neill. “Mas o que está mudando pelas beiradas (…) é que o iene é a moeda mais atraente para se usar.”

(Contribuiu Matthew Walter.)

Por KRISTINA PETERSON

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)–El sistema bancario se ha fortalecido desde la crisis financiera, lo que ha hecho que algunos créditos sean más alcanzables, pero los créditos hipotecarios probablemente tendrán una recuperación más lenta, dijo el presidente de la Reserva Federal de Estados Unidos, Ben Bernanke, en declaraciones preparadas para un discurso el jueves por la mañana.

Las condiciones en el sistema financiero han “mejorado significativamente en los últimos años” gracias a que los bancos han reconstruido su capital y mejorado la calidad de los activos, indicó el jueves Bernanke en declaraciones entregadas vía satélite en una conferencia bancaria en Chicago realizada por el Banco de la Reserva Federal de Chicago. El funcionario no se refirió a política monetaria en el discurso.

Si bien las condiciones crediticias han mejorado considerablemente gracias a que los mercados financieros se han fortalecido, los préstamos aún son limitados en el mercado hipotecario de Estados Unidos, indicó Bernanke.

“Muchos factores sugieren que esta situación será difícil de revertir rápidamente”, señaló Bernanke.

Bernanke señaló que los estándares y términos crediticios más estrictos “siguen siendo especialmente evidentes” en el mercado hipotecario. Si bien no sería adecuado un regreso a los relajados estándares de antes de la burbuja hipotecaria, el funcionario señaló que “los actuales estándares podrían estar limitando o evitando créditos a muchos prestatarios solventes”.

Sony Pictures

Emma Stone in ‘Easy A.’

There’s a wonderful line in “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” when Elliott and his older brother Michael head off to their classes, leaving E.T. behind at home. “Did you explain school to him?” Michael asks. “How do you explain school to higher intelligence?” Elliott replies. He has a point. Secondary classrooms are what most of us dreamed of escaping from, and the longer we’re out of high school the less receptive we become to high school comedies. Why, then, am I so pleased with “Easy A”? Because the movie, despite a few flaws, seems to have been made by higher intelligence, and because it catapults Emma Stone into a higher place reserved for American actors who can handle elevated language with casually dazzling aplomb.

She plays Olive Penderghast, an Ojai, Calif., high-school student who goes to class in a bustier emblazoned with the scarlet A of an adulteress. How she reaches this point is a convoluted story, and a long way from the 1980s comedies of John Hughes; suffice it to say that Olive identifies intensely with Hester Prynne, the outcast heroine of “The Scarlet Letter.” A more immediate question is how Ms. Stone, barely out of her own teens, reached that higher place so quickly; the answer involves the twin mysteries of talent and growth. Three years ago she made a splashlet as Jules, the alluring party girl in “Superbad.” In last year’s stylish “Zombieland” she was sexy and confident as the larcenous Wichita. Neither of those performances, though, could have predicted her emergence as a full-fledged movie star. With her agile features, Cognac voice and Spritely spirit, she makes Olive an embodiment of young sophistication.

“Easy A” was directed, with fearless exuberance, by Will Gluck from an elated and elating screenplay by Bert V. Royal. Like Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless,” which drew its inspiration from Jane Austen’s “Emma,” this new film is an unrestrained riff on the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel. And like Ms. Heckerling’s update, the enterprise revels in quasiliterary language. In a preteen flashback, Olive tries to reassure an anxious boy: “Don’t worry, I’m not as smart as I think I am.” In fact, she’s delightfully smart, and so is the movie; its bon mots are consistently bon. One of my favorites predates Olive’s notoriety: “Google Earth couldn’t find me if I was dressed up as a 10-story building.” The other follows her emergence as a harlot—a faux-harlot, more precisely: “I always thought pretending to lose my virginity would be a little more special. Judy Blume should have prepared me for that.”

Olive’s pretense is the mainspring—or hair-trigger—of the plot. From the moment she tells a girlfriend about an imagined liaison with a nonexistent college student, there’s no calling back the instant messages or quelling the scandal. Among the things “Easy A” manages to be smart about is the madcap virulence of social networks, and witty snippets of a webcast provide the narrative structure—they’re Olive’s effort to explain what she did, as opposed to what she kept saying she did, and why she did it.

One interesting issue the production raises is whether kids will want to see it. I hope they do, but it remains to be seen if the “I’m like and she’s like” and “I go then he goes” generation can handle the rich dialogue. Another is whether the movie’s look will militate against its success: I accepted the indifferent cinematography as an almost certain sign of a low budget that didn’t allow for careful setups or meticulous lighting.

According to the story, most high-school boys are either virgins or gay; that might prompt some challenges on empirical grounds. So might the unconditional support that Olive enjoys from her blissed-out parents. (They’re played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci, and I cherished every preposterous moment they were on screen.) Still another issue flows from the unfortunate tradition of comedy, let alone high-school comedy, not always getting the respect it deserves. This one, largely thanks to Ms. Stone’s role in it, deserves more than respect: “Easy A” earns adulation for originality, hilarity and verve.

Fox Searchlight

Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield in ‘Never Let Me Go.’

‘Never Let Me Go’

For its delicate tone, provocative themes, impeccable craftsmanship and superb performances—by Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley—”Never Let Me Go” earned my great admiration. I wish I’d been affected in equal measure, but I wasn’t, and it’s not the sort of film you can will yourself to enjoy, even though you know that many others will be moved by its tale of romance, class oppression and harsh destiny.

This adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. The book was an exceedingly slow reveal. Ever so gradually did it let the reader know that a key setting, an English boarding school called Hailsham in the 1970s, was part of an alternate sci-fi universe not unrelated to such classic dystopias as “Soylent Green.” Ever so gradually did the school’s ostensible students discover that they were carefully nurtured clones who would die after donating their organs to long-lived residents of an England they were barely aware of.

I’m revealing these plot points here only because, in recent interviews, both the director and the novelist have approved of doing so. As they see it, the potential for surprise has dwindled to nil since the book was published five years ago, while a knowledge of the premise will enhance our appreciation of the characters’ plight, and deepen our involvement in the intertwined subjects—what it means to be human, and what inhumanities may be committed in the name of science.

They’re right on both counts. It’s fascinating—or haunting, if your mind can defer to your heart—to watch the trio at the center of the story work their way through love, betrayal and reconciliation to a poignant peace with their fate. Ms. Mulligan’s performance, in particular, is a quiet triumph, thanks to the dissonance between her character’s dire circumstances and her gift for expressing wordless expectancy. Charlotte Rampling is chillingly effective as Hailsham’s stern headmistress, and Sally Hawkins distinguishes herself in the small but pivotal role of a teacher who teaches kids the truth. If only the film had offered some relief from all that poignancy and resignation. Not comedy, certainly, nor even rebelliousness, since that’s ruled out by fidelity to the literary source, but brighter sparks of life than the emotional spectrum contained. “Never Let Me Go” hardly allowed me a scintilla of hope.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner in ‘The Town.’

‘The Town’

Ben Affleck works both sides of the camera to impressive effect in “The Town,” a dramatic thriller that fulfills its considerable ambitions. As the director, he showcases fine performances without indulging in showboating, and illuminates character without losing a beat of the throbbing pace; this movie represents a big step forward from his solid directorial debut in “Gone Baby Gone.” (The shrewd, taut script was adapted by Peter Craig, Mr. Affleck and Aaron Stockard from a novel by Chuck Hogan.) As the star, he gives one of those fine performances, though it’s an artistic toss-up between his intensity and Rebecca Hall’s lovely simplicity.

The town of the title is Charlestown, a blue-collar Boston neighborhood that’s described by a wry opening title as having spawned more robbers of banks and armored trucks than any other place in the nation. Mr. Affleck’s Doug MacRay robs banks. He and his crew usually rob them before business hours, while their doors are open to receive money from armored trucks. When one robbery goes wrong, they take the branch manager hostage—Ms. Hall’s Claire Keesey—and an unlikely yet engrossing relationship develops between her and Doug. Claire doesn’t know who he is, since he and the others wore masks, and Doug doesn’t know how to keep from falling in love with her.

You can’t blame him. Sweeping away the clichés of her character—the naiveté, the vulnerability, the neediness—Ms. Hall creates a woman whose keen intelligence is exceeded only by her yearning for a new life with the man she has just met. (The intelligence of the writing is best exemplified by a pair of lines that turn on the phrase “sunny day.”) Doug wants a new life too, but escaping his family history is more easily yearned for than achieved. That registers most powerfully during a brief prison visit with his father, Stephen (Chris Cooper) who’s not only behind bars but beyond reach in a permanent state of rage.

As a thriller, “The Town” has what it takes and then some: an electrifying performance by Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”) as Doug’s lethally volatile partner in crime; riveting work by Jon Hamm as a remorseless FBI agent; strong acting in supporting roles by Blake Lively and Pete Postlethwaite; percussive car chases through central Boston’s narrow streets. And the romantic element, though subordinate to the action, rings equally true. When Doug says “I’ll see you in Florida, kid,” you won’t mistake him for a violent dreamer played by James Cagney, but you’ll still root for him with, as well as against, your better judgment.

‘Heartbreaker’

“Heartbreaker,” in French with English subtitles, is total fluff, though its totality is reasonably agreeable, and Pascal Chaumeil’s comedy cum scenery—mainly Monte Carlo—gives the mercurial Romain Duris a chance to show his chops as an homme fatal. He plays Alex, a professional seducer who, with two other members of a team that’s supposed to parody Mission Impossible, gets paid to break up bad relationships. (At least the people who pay him think they’re bad.) Vanessa Paradis is Juliette, a headstrong playgirl in a relationship that doesn’t seem to need breaking up. The movie can be arch and awfully strenuous, especially when an obnoxious nymphomaniac named Sophie invades the premises. But here’s a chance to measure its arch before the inevitable advent of an American remake.

DVD FOCUS

‘Juno’ (2007)

If you’ve seen Ellen Page in this word feast written by Diablo Cody, it’s impossible not to think of her when you’re watching Emma Stone in “Easy A.” Which movie is better? Which actress is quicker-lipped? That’s a moot point, and an irrelevant one. The important thing is that these splendid comedies and their gifted stars deserve one another’s company. “I’m a legend,” says the pregnant Juno MacGuff wryly when her condition grows all too visible. But the film, directed by Jason Reitman, is not a cautionary tale. It’s a comedy of crisp, mordant wit and quietly radiating warmth.

‘An Education’ (2009)

Was it only last year that this tale of an English schoolgirl’s hard-won wisdom made Carey Mulligan an international star? She plays the precocious and perilously tender Jenny, who, at 16, finds the London of 1961—one year before Beatlemania—sedate if not downright sedative. Peter Sarsgaard is David, a man of the world who offers her the prospect of an education that isn’t covered by the syllabus of her private school. Alfred Molina is her father, Jack, as craven a social climber as John Cleese’s Basil in “Fawlty Towers.” Lone Scherfig directed from Nick Hornby’s script.

‘The Departed’ (2006)

Martin Scorsese’s crime drama takes place within Boston’s city limits, but it seems to have been made in a state of exultation, and holds you captive in a state of dark delight. The basic idea was inspired by “Infernal Affairs,” a 2002 action thriller from Hong Kong, and a classic of sorts. But “The Departed” has become a classic in its own right, thanks in no small measure to William Monahan’s script and to a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin. Michael Ballhaus did the cinematography.

Write to Joe Morgenstern at joe.morgenstern@wsj.com