Unemployment rate almost stabilized in Q3 at 7.3%

This is just one point down from the previous quarter. Unemployment was nearly flat in the 3rd quarter at 7.3% of the active population in France (excluding Mayotte), according to data released by INSEE on Tuesday morning.

In the 2nd quarter, it amounted to 7.4% of the active population of France (excluding Mayotte) against 7.3% in the first quarter of the year.

The number of unemployed according to the International Labor Office (ILO) has reached 2.252 million people, which is 17 thousand less than in the previous quarter. “The unemployment rate has fluctuated between 7.3 and 7.4% since the fourth quarter of 2021, at a level 0.9 points lower than before the health crisis (end of 2019),” INSEE said in a statement.

Labor Minister Olivier Dussaud on Monday assessed the “still achievable” goal of achieving full employment by 2027, i.e. an unemployment rate of around 5%.

The employment rate of the population aged 15 to 64 increased by 0.3 points.

The youth unemployment rate increased (+0.3 points to 18.3%), but remained well below the pre-crisis level (-3.3 points). It remains almost stable among 25-49 year olds at 6.5% and among people over 50 years of age.

“Halo around unemployment”, i.e. of people who want to return to the labor market, but are not recognized as unemployed by the ILO (actually looking for work and ready to take it), decreases very slightly to 1.8 million people (-34,000).

The long-term unemployment rate (at least one year) fell 0.1 points to 2.0% of the working population, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2009.

The employment rate of 15-64-year-olds (employed in relation to the total population) increased by 0.3 points to 68.3%, i.е. to the highest level since its INSEE measurement (in 1975).

According to INSEE, this rate increases by 0.1 points for youth (15–24 years old) to 34.9% and reaches its highest level since 1990, “particularly due to work and study contracts”.

As pension reform approaches, the employment rate among people aged 50-64 increases by 0.3 points to 66.3%, a “new all-time high”, according to INSEE.

The activity rate of 15-64 year olds (which calculates the ratio between the number of people employed and the population as a whole) increased slightly to 73.7% (+0.2 points) and reached the highest level since the Insee measurement.