Unemployment rises very slightly but strongly among young people

In its latest bulletin, INSEE mentions an “almost stable” unemployment rate. Almost because this rate very slightly increased by 0.1 point in the third quarter to reach 7.4% of the active population, returning to the same level as a year earlier. With 35,000 additional job seekers since this summer, France now has around 2.3 million unemployed, the national statistics institute announced this Wednesday.

If this rate increases only very slightly on a national scale, it is however increasing sharply among young people. Over one quarter, the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds jumped by 1.8 points to reach 19.7%. However, it decreases by 0.3 points among those aged 50 and by 0.1 points among those aged 25-49.

The employment rate of 50-64 year olds, which the government wants to see rise with the pension reform, has reached its highest level since INSEE began measuring it in 1975, at 68.8%.

By gender, the unemployment rate increased among men (+0.3 points to 7.6%) and decreased among women (-0.2 points to 7.2%).