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UNEMPLOYMENT

Unemployment highest for twelve years

The number of job seekers in France rose again in October, taking figures to a 12-year high.

Published: 29 November 2011 09:30 CET

The main measure of unemployment published on Monday showed a 1.2 percent increase on the previous month, representing an extra 34,400 job seekers. 

The new total is up to 2,814,900, a 4.9 percent increase on October 2010, and is the highest since December 1999.

The number of unemployed rose in all age groups, with older workers being hardest hit. 

Employment minister Xavier Bertrand admitted the figures were “not good” in a television interview. 

He also acknowledged that the government would not achieve its ambition of getting the overall unemployment rate below 9 percent by the end of the year. 

The last calculation of the rate put unemployment at 9.1 percent. Business daily Les Echos reported on Monday that the OECD estimated that the rate could reach 9.9 percent by the end of 2012.

François Hollande, who will stand as the Socialist candidate in the 2012 presidential elections, denounced the “failure” of current president Nicolas Sakrozy.

“This is the symbol of failure of this president,” he said at a press conference on Monday evening. 

twitter.com/matthew_warren

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BUSINESS

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown

Unemployment in France has fallen slightly, despite the ongoing ravages of the health crisis and consequent lockdown, latest statistics show.

Published: 27 April 2021 16:46 CEST
Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

The number of unemployed job seekers in mainland France fell by 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2021, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

There were 3,560,600 unemployed registered at the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office), 12,200 fewer than during the last three months of 2020.

This follows a 2.7 percent fall in the final three months of 2020 – but the rate is still up 6.8 percent compared with the first three months of 2020, before Europe began to feel the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

Currently all ‘non essential’ shops in France have been closed since April 3rd, while bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, cinemas, theatres, museums and tourist sites have been closed since October 2020.

Despite the fall the total number of job seekers, the number of people who were in work but with reduced hours was up by 0.8 percent at the start of 2021, to 2,156,300.

That means that in total 5,716,900 people in mainland France were registered with Pôle emploi during this period, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago.

“Over the course of 2020, in one year, unemployment rose by 8 percent. This is obviously a lot, but we must remember that during the crisis of 2008-2009, unemployment leapt by 25 percent, so we can see that the government assistance is working,” Minister of Labour Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Tuesday.

The French government has put together a huge package of economic aid to try and mitigate the effects of the repeated lockdowns, from chômage partiel (furlough) schemes for employees to aid packages for business owners and the self-employed. But many small retailers have been hit hard by the three periods of closure for non-essential shops, while the tourist, leisure and hospitality sectors have also had a devastating year.

The economic downturn linked to the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people in France.  Across all categories of job seekers (unemployed and with reduced hours), the latest figures show a rise of 7.1 percent in a year for those under 25, compared to 4.5 percent for the 25-29 age range, and 4.8 percent for those aged 50 and over.

Men are also more likely to have signed up to Pôle emploi, with a 6.1 percent increase on last year, compared to a 3.8 percent increase among women.

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