2023-05-17 12:04:03
The unemployment rate remained stable in the first quarter, at 7.1% of the working population in France (excluding Mayotte), the estimate for the previous quarter having been slightly lowered (-0.1 points), according to figures published on Wednesday by INSEE.
The number of unemployed within the meaning of the International Labor Office (ILO) reached 2.2 million people, notes in a press release the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, which had initially reported an unemployment rate of 7.2% in the 4th quarter of 2022.
The unemployment rate for the 1st quarter was thus 0.3 points lower than its level a year earlier and 3.4 points lower than its peak in mid-2015, the institute said. If we exclude the “trompe-l’oeil” decline during the health crisis, we have to go back to the first quarter of 2008 (7.2%) and the second quarter of 1982 (7.1%) to find equivalent levels. “It’s been 40 years since the level of unemployment has been so low”, welcomed Emmanuel Macron on Twitter, recalling his “full employment objective”.
Over the quarter, the youth unemployment rate (15-24 years) fell very slightly by 0.2 points to 16.6%. It is 5.2 points below its level before the health crisis (end of 2019).
Long-term unemployment also stable
The unemployment rate for 25-49 year olds was almost stable (-0.1 point) over the quarter, at 6.4%. Finally, the unemployment rate for people aged 50 or over rebounded slightly over the quarter (+0.2 point) to 5.2%, but it remained below its level of a year earlier (-0.3 point).
The long-term unemployment rate (at least one year) was almost stable (-0.1 point) over the quarter, at 1.8% of the active population. This level is at its lowest since the first quarter of 2009 (1.7%), if we exclude the second quarter of 2020 (1.4%) during the health crisis.
The “unemployment halo”, i.e. people wishing to return to the job market but who are not considered unemployed by the ILO (actually looking for a job and being available to take one), increases again in the first quarter (+62,000 after +49,000 in the previous quarter). The share of the halo in the population aged 15-64 thus increased by 0.1 point, after already +0.1 point in the fourth quarter of 2022, to reach 4.6%.
As for the employment rate of 15-64 year olds, it increased by 0.3 points and reached 68.6% over the quarter. It thus reached its highest level since INSEE measured it (1975).
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