FACTBOX: Five facts about French economy chief Borloo

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday appointed Jean-Louis Borloo to run a new economic development and employment superministry designed to foster growth and cut joblessness.

Below are five facts about the key cabinet figure.

* Dubbed the "social conscience" of the previous conservative administration, Borloo, a former lawyer, first came to attention as mayor of the northern town of Valenciennes, overseeing its revival from a post-industrial slump.

* As labor minister in the outgoing government, he won plaudits for masterminding a downturn in unemployment, which fell to a near 24-year low of 8.3 percent in March. Doubts about the data's accuracy tarnished that achievement.

* As economy supremo his task will be to deliver on Sarkozy's pledge to create jobs and restore full employment, and his reputation as politician with a social focus could help win over hostile trade unions and students.

* Borloo's curly-haired mop and laid-back looks make him a sometimes curious figure in an image-obsessed age, but Borloo remains a canny media operator who used off-the-record briefings last year to successfully distance himself from an unpopular youth labor reform abandoned by the conservative government.

* Will need the good relations he has forged with unions during his recent stint as employment minister to steer Sarkozy's plans for public sector monopoly strike curbs and labor code reform past France's powerful unions.