Insee, the French institute of statistics, has just released the latest unemployment figures and notes a slight decrease for the year 2015. Thus, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1% in mainland France, reaching 10% of the active population in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 10.3% including the Overseas departments.
The Insee indicator, the only one recognized internationally, is less severe than that of Pôle emploi, which recorded 3.58 million registered unemployed without any activity in mainland France at the end of December, which is 88,200 more than at the end of 2014 (+2.5%).
According to Insee, the number of unemployed people stands at 2.86 million, a figure down 1.8% year-on-year. This moderate decline still reassures the Minister of Labour, Myriam El Khomri: “It is an encouraging signal. It is going in the right direction. Employment will accelerate,” she declared on France 2.
All age groups have benefited from this decrease, but the 15-24 age group remains the most affected despite a drop to 24% (-0.3 points). Among those aged 50 and over, there is a 0.1% decrease in the unemployment rate, bringing it to 6.9%.
However, these slight decreases should be put into perspective given the “halo around unemployment,” which has slightly increased. This corresponds to people who want to work but are not counted because they are not actively seeking or are not immediately available.
They numbered 1.4 million at the end of 2015. A figure that increased by 23,000 in the fourth quarter.
It should also be noted that the number of underemployed people, meaning those who would like to work more, has slightly decreased (-0.1 points), at 6.6%.
