Around 106,000 people attended cost-of-living protests in France on Saturday, including 24,000 in Paris, the interior minister said, in the lowest turnout estimate for weekend rallies in recent weeks.
Student unions put the number of demonstrators at 200,000, including almost 100,000 in the capital.
The European Union's second largest economy has been gripped by high-school blockades and mass demonstrations for more than a month, with the far right leading in the polls to win presidential elections next year to replace Emmanuel Macron.
"No justice, no peace," a protester shouted into a megaphone in Paris as people including students, unions and Yellow Vest activists demonstrated for the fifth Saturday in a row.
Others called for the president to resign, or cried "Everybody hates the police", as a group carried a giant puppet whose hat read "Lord Macron".
Some of the largely peaceful rallies in recent weeks have seen fringe violence, as well as accusations of police brutality, including against young teenagers.
Adrien, a 20-year-old cello player in a volunteer orchestra at the Paris rally, said the focus of the day was a new bill in parliament to give police who use their weapons further protection.
"We're scared when we come to a protest, and this will only make us even more afraid if their impunity is strengthened," he said, after tear gas fell on protesting musicians last month.
'Giving us hope'
Backers of the new police bill -- including the far-right party of leading presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen -- say a new law presuming police acted in self-defence is necessary to avoid officers being automatically suspected of using disproportionate force.
Activists argue it would amount to a "licence to kill", as it would hamper the opening of investigations and make holding security forces accountable even harder in a country where alleged police brutality cases rarely reach a criminal court.
Others nationwide demanded better learning conditions, more children's rights or simply sang for a better France.
In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, 72-year-old Josette belted out protest song "I have two passions: brass bands and revolution".
"My children didn't want me to come," she told AFP. "But I'm so grateful to the youth for starting this movement."
"They're giving us hope at a time when it feels like we're heading straight for disaster, with a planet that keeps getting hotter and far-right movements that are increasingly unapologetic."
Unions have called for a new day of strikes on Tuesday, after rejecting a government promise to increase the minimum wage by 0.6 percent as "crumbs".
The largest protests in recent weeks occurred during a union-led strike on Thursday last week, when more than half a million people took to the streets nationwide, according to official figures.
