The unemployment rate in France increased slightly in the third quarter, by +0.1 points compared to the second quarter, reaching 7.7% of the active population, INSEE announced on Thursday. The bank also revised its second-quarter estimate up from 7.5% to 7.6%.
The number of unemployed as defined by the International Labor Office – those looking for work and immediately ready to take a job – increased by 44,000 compared to the previous quarter, to 2.4 million people. “The unemployment rate is thus 0.3 points higher than the level in the third quarter of 2024, but still well below its peak in mid-2015 (-2.8 points),” INSEE noted.
During the quarter, the unemployment rate for the 15-24 age group decreased by 0.2 points, to 18.8%. A level that brings its decline to 0.8 points over one year. The unemployment rate for those aged 50 and over increased by 0.3 points during the quarter and by 0.4 points over the year, to 5.1%.
In the second quarter, the unemployment rate as defined by the ILO almost stabilized, with an additional 29,000 unemployed people.
