The unemployment rate remained almost stable in the fourth quarter of 2022, at 7.2% of the working population in France (excluding Mayotte) against 7.3% in the third, according to figures published Tuesday, February 14 by INSEE.
The number of unemployed within the meaning of the International Labor Office (ILO) reached 2.2 million people, or 45,000 less than in the previous quarter, INSEE said in its press release. The unemployment rate for the 4th quarter is thus 0.3 points lower than its level a year earlier, and 1 point lower than its level before the health crisis (end of 2019), specifies the institute.
Unemployment at lowest since 2008
“This is its lowest level since the first quarter of 2008, if we exclude the occasional trompe-l’oeil drop in the second quarter of 2020, during the first confinement”, notes INSEE. In a December business report, the institute predicted that “the unemployment rate should remain around 7.3% of the active population until mid-2023”.
Over the quarter, the youth unemployment rate (15-24 years) fell by one point, to 16.9%. It is 0.4 points above its level at the end of 2021 but 4.9 points below its pre-crisis level. The unemployment rate for 25-49 year olds is stable at 6.5%, 0.3 points below its level at the end of 2021.
The employment rate of 15-64 year olds at its highest
Finally, the unemployment rate for people aged 50 or over barely fell over the quarter (–0.1 point) to 5%, 0.7 point lower than its level a year earlier. The long-term unemployment rate (at least one year) is stable at 1.9% of the active population.
The “halo around unemployment”or 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), “barely increases” over the quarter (+0.1 point), notes INSEE. In total, 1.9 million people are affected.
As for the employment rate of 15-64 year olds, it is stable at 68.3%, remaining at its highest level since INSEE measured it (1975).