Nearly 1,000 people were arrested across France on Saturday as demonstrations over the cost of living, taxation and government policy escalated into clashes between police and protesters, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
France's Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people took part in demonstrations nationwide, while trade unions put the turnout at about 800,000, says the BBC.
Protesters voiced frustration over rising fuel prices, high taxes, the cost of living and poor conditions in schools. Demonstrators also expressed a sense of despair and said they felt ignored by President Emmanuel Macron's administration.
Authorities deployed 70,000 police officers nationwide and imposed restrictions on demonstrations in several cities to prevent a repeat of the widespread looting and rioting that took place the previous weekend. Macron decreed that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted.
Nuñez said nearly 1,000 arrests had been made on Saturday alone, with the number expected to rise. Fast-track court hearings have already resulted in hundreds of people being jailed for arson, looting and vandalism.
In Paris, police deployed an elite unit normally assigned to organised crime and counter-terrorism operations. Officers in several cities used tear gas, water cannon and baton charges to disperse crowds.
A largely peaceful march in Paris from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes was followed by clashes when riot police charged masked youths who were throwing objects at officers and smashing windows at car dealerships.
In Marseille, protesters erected and set fire to street barricades, burned rubbish bins and used metal sheets to block roads. A police vehicle was filmed driving through a burning barricade.
In Bordeaux, demonstrators tore boards from a building or shop to construct makeshift barricades. In Lyon, police fired tear gas grenades at a crowd of about 150 secondary school and university students gathered in a restricted area.
Two people suffered serious injuries, one in Toulouse and another in Clermont-Ferrand.
In Orléans, meanwhile, 13,000 people took part in a peaceful rally against the hard-right National Rally party.
The latest demonstrations came after heavier unrest the previous weekend, when more than 550,000 people protested and authorities made over 2,500 arrests. The earlier unrest left 1,000 police officers injured and caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage to more than 2,000 businesses.
The demonstrations come six months before France's presidential election, with political contenders directing criticism at Macron and his ministers.
Similar economic protests have also taken place in other European cities, including Tirana in Albania, Brussels in Belgium and Milan in Italy.