PARIS -- President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative coalition suffered an embarrassing setback in French regional elections Sunday, with the Socialists and their allies winning 54 percent of the vote to the conservatives' 35 percent, according to nearly complete results.

The outcome, although it concerned regional assemblies, was widely interpreted as a sign that Sarkozy has lost momentum since his election in 2007, in large measure because of the global economic crisis that has pushed unemployment in France above 10 percent.

For many, the national impact of the vote also suggested that the squabbling Socialists, if they can maintain their alliance with the growing Europe Ecology Party, might have a chance in the next presidential vote, in 2012, despite internal differences, an unsettled ideology and the lack of a star-power candidate.

An abstention rate of just under 50 percent, however, was taken as an indication that many of the 43.4 million French voters are so disillusioned by their political leadership -- on the left as well as the right -- that they did not bother to go to the polls. The abstention rate was also high in the elimination round of voting one week ago.

Prime Minister François Fillon, speaking for the government, acknowledged that the left's victory was a disappointment for Sarkozy and his Union for a Popular Movement. He promised to meet with Sarkozy immediately to draw lessons from the vote but also vowed to continue with the economic streamlining that Sarkozy maintains he was elected to carry out.

High on the agenda is change in the costly French retirement system, which allows most people to retire at 60. Suggestions for pushing back the retirement age to reduce deficits have already met with strong opposition among labor unions, suggesting that Sarkozy will face a difficult spring if he wants to make the changes he has promised.

"We were not able to persuade," Fillon said in a statement acknowledging the defeat. "The election showed French people are worried."

The Socialists won majorities in 21 of the 22 regional assemblies in mainland France, with conservatives retaining only Alsace and the two overseas territories of Guyane and Reunion. The Socialist total was only one more than the current regional breakdown. But the wide gap in the overall vote count was seen as a demonstration that Sarkozy's support has slipped.

The far-right Nationalist Front registered a stronger showing than expected, with about 10 percent of the vote, according to an Interior Ministry tally. Part of that vote, commentators said, came from Sarkozy's 2007 electorate, particularly people upset about Muslims' growing visibility in France.

"This is a great victory for the National Front," said Marine Le Pen, daughter of the Front's founder and leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Fillon and his finance minister, Christine Lagarde, blamed the world economic crisis that erupted in 2008 on Wall Street and quickly crossed the Atlantic to poison the French and other European economies. Hundreds of thousands of people have been thrown out of work and farmers are unable to make ends meet, Lagarde said, adding: "They obviously are not happy."

The Socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, said Sarkozy should read the vote as a command from the French people to "correct government policies," in particular to halt the drawdown of civil servants that has been a hallmark of Sarkozy's effort to make the economy more efficient.

"In a democracy, every time the voters speak, you have to listen to them," Delanoe said in a televised analysis of the vote.

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