The unemployment rate in France rose very slightly in the third quarter of 2024, to reach 7.4% of the active population, or 2.3 million people, INSEE announced on Wednesday. This rate, calculated according to the International Labor Office and harmonized at European level, was at the same level a year earlier and 7.3% in the second quarter, said the National Institute of Statistics.
This summer, 35,000 additional people were hit by unemployment, a very small change which led the institute to say that the unemployment rate is “almost stable”.
Sharp increase among young people
The low point of the unemployment curve since 1982 was reached at the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 with a rate of 7.1%, and the rate for the third quarter of 2024 remains 3.1 points below its peak in mid-2015. But it increases sharply among young people aged 15 to 24, by 1.8 points over one quarter to reach 19.7%, while it decreases by 0.3 points among those aged 50 and over and by 0.1 points. among 25 – 49 year olds.
The unemployment rate is increasing among men, gaining 0.3 points to 7.6% over one quarter, while it decreases by 0.2 points to 7.2% among women. 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%.
Finally, the halo around unemployment, made up of people who do not have a job because they are not looking for one or are not available, decreases with 89,000 fewer people over one quarter, and 187,000 fewer less than a year ago.