The French government announced Tuesday that US industrial conglomerate General Electric will pay 50 million euros ($57 million) after falling short of its goal of creating 1,000 new jobs in the country. GE had pledged to create the jobs by the end of last year as part of its 2015 purchase of the power and electrical grid businesses of France's Alstom.

But shortly after closing the deal GE unveiled a series of job cuts across Europe as slumping oil and gas prices crimped demand for its heavy-duty turbines and other equipment.

The company had already warned last year that it wouldn't meet the target, though the new CEO Larry Culp confirmed in October that GE would "fulfil its commitments." It had promised to pay 50,000 euros for every job not created over the three-year period.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019