France, May 17, 2023 – The International Labour Office (ILO) has released its latest report on the labor market in France, revealing that the country’s unemployment rate remained stable at 7.1% in the first quarter of 2023. The report indicates a slight decrease of 7,000 unemployed individuals over the quarter, bringing the total number of unemployed people to 2.2 million.
Compared to the same period last year, the unemployment rate has decreased by 0.3 percentage points. Moreover, it currently stands 3.4 points below its peak level in the second quarter of 2015, marking the lowest level since the second quarter of 2020. Notably, the first lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic had a “trompe-l’oeil” effect on the unemployment rate, making the current level the lowest in recent years, excluding that period. Similar unemployment levels were recorded in the first quarters of 2008 (7.2%) and 1982 (7.1%).
The report highlights the specific unemployment rates for different age groups. The unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 to 24 slightly decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 16.6% during the first quarter, remaining relatively stable over the year. The unemployment rate for individuals aged 25 to 49 remained virtually stable at 6.4%, 0.3 percentage points lower than the previous year. For individuals aged 50 and above, the unemployment rate increased slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 5.2%, but it remained below the level recorded a year ago by 0.3 percentage points.
Regarding gender disparities, the unemployment rate among men remained stable at 7.4%, while the rate among women decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.8%. A year ago, both rates were similar, with men at 7.4% and women at 7.3%.
The report also examines the halo around unemployment, which includes individuals who want a job but are not officially classified as unemployed because they are either not actively seeking employment or not immediately available. The number of people in the halo around unemployment increased by 62,000 over the quarter, totaling 2 million individuals. This represents a 0.1 percentage point increase in the population of people aged 15 to 64, reaching 4.6%.
Additionally, the report reveals that the long-term unemployment rate remained virtually stable at 1.8% of the labor force, with 569,000 individuals reporting being jobless and actively seeking employment for at least one year. This figure is 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous quarter and 0.4 percentage points below the level recorded in the first quarter of 2022. The long-term unemployment rate is currently at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2009.
On a positive note, the employment rate for individuals aged 15 to 64 increased by 0.3 percentage points to 68.6% in the first quarter of 2023. This marks a new high since INSEE, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, began measuring the rate in 1975. The employment rate also saw improvements across all age groups, with the highest increase observed among young people aged 15 to 24, rising by 0.2 percentage points over the quarter and 0.7 percentage points over the year, reaching 35.3%.
The full-time employment rate remained stable at 57.2% in the first quarter, the highest level recorded since 2003. In contrast, the part-time