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.
Among young people, unemployment down slightly
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). 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).