PARIS, 07 August. - (ANA) - The unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points in the second quarter to 8.3 percent, its highest level since autumn 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its highest outside that period since autumn 2019, Insee said.

 

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, the number of people without a job who are actively seeking work increased by 62,000 compared with the previous quarter, reaching 2.7 million people, Insee outlined.

 

While the unemployment rate is at its highest level since the third quarter of 2020, which was affected by the health crisis, and before that since the third quarter of 2019, Insee noted that it remains well below its mid-2015 peak of -2.2 percentage points.

 

The figures also take in data from the French department of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. All statistical series have been recalculated using this expanded coverage to allow comparisons across all periods, Insee said.

 

"The inclusion of Mayotte marginally affects the levels and trends of the main labour market indicators," said the Insee report.

 

"Therefore, in Q2 [second quarter] 2026, compared to the scope excluding Mayotte, the unemployment rate in France is revised upwards by 0.06 points, while the employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 is revised downwards by 0.17 points.

 

"After rounding, the quarterly changes in the unemployment rate (+0.2 points) and employment rate (-0.3 points) remain identical across both scopes."

 

 

 

 

In the second quarter, the unemployment rate for 15-24-year-olds rose by 0.4 percentage points to 21.6 percent, while the rate for 25-49 year-olds continued to climb, increasing by 0.2 percentage points to 7.5 percent, its highest level since the first quarter of 2021.

 

The unemployment rate for people aged 50 and over also continued to rise. It went up 0.3 percentage points to 5.5 percent, its highest level since the first quarter of 2022.

 

 

 

 

Insee noted that since the implementation of France's Full Employment Law in January 2025, recipients of the active solidarity income (RSA) welfare benefit and young people aged 15 to 29 account for nearly half of the increase in the unemployment rate.

 

In addition to the 2.7 million people classified as unemployed under the ILO definition, 1.9 million wanted a job without being considered unemployed, because they either did not seek a job or were not immediately available.

 

Dubbed 'the halo around unemployment', this number rose by 6,000 over the quarter. Insee described the increase as virtually stable.

 

"The share of halo in the population of people aged 15 to 64 was stable over the quarter and virtually stable over the year (-0.1 points), to 4.4 percent.

 

"Over the quarter, the share of halo increased by 0.2 points amongst people aged 15 to 24, to 7.3 percent while it was stable for those aged 25 to 49 (at 4.3 percent) and virtually stable for those aged 50 to 64 (-0.1 points), to 2.7 percent."

 

France's Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said: "Despite a difficult economic environment, the French labour market remains resilient."   - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/07 August 2026 - - -