Paris (France) (AFP) – For the first time since the start of 2025, the unemployment rate in France slowed down in the third quarter: it remained almost stable, standing at 8.2% of the active population, but it remains higher than a year ago, according to INSEE data published on Tuesday.

Published on: 10/11/2026 - 1:00 p.m.

Compared to the second quarter, the French unemployment rate, as defined by the International Labor Office (ILO), fell by 0.1 point.

But as it had increased in previous quarters, it is however up 0.4 points over one year, therefore in comparison with the third quarter of 2025.

And, at 8.2%, it remains far from Emmanuel Macron's initial objective of reducing the unemployment rate to 5% at the end of his second term in 2027.

If over the quarter, "it's rather good news", "we still have progress to make to reach full employment", admitted on BFM Business the governor of the Bank of France, Emmanuel Moulin, highlighting a French unemployment rate higher than "those of our European neighbors".

So glass half empty or glass half full? “Minus 0.1 point, I don’t think it’s excellent news,” says Nathalie Chusseau, professor of economics at the University of Lille, interviewed by AFP. She points to an “institutional and budgetary crisis which is coupled with a social crisis” and faced with “current uncertainty”, companies “waiting to see what will happen”.

“This small drop is not the signal that we are starting a lasting decline,” also notes economist Mathieu Plane of the OECD.

“Even if we have a small episode of improvement here, it’s a bit of a false signal, because we are in an episode of very, very weak growth and rather in a phase of job losses,” he adds.

“Dynamics to protect”

In the third quarter, the number of people without a job and actively looking for one decreased by 47,000 compared to the previous quarter, reaching 2.6 million people, specifies the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee).

"In a context of international and commercial tensions which are impacting our economy, the French labor market is doing better than resisting", commented the Minister of Labor Jean-Pierre Farandou, rejoicing at a "valuable dynamic (...)", which "must be protected".

For the unions, on the other hand, there is nothing to rejoice in these unemployment figures. The general secretary of the CFDT, Marylise Léon, does not see this as "good news". “The fact that it is almost flatline means that there is no worsening of the situation, but we have a real employment issue, particularly for young people and seniors,” she declared on France 2.

“The pseudo full employment promised by Macron is unattainable,” launched the CGT in a press release, which is calling for a strike on November 17 for “permanent full-time jobs and salaries that follow the cost of living.”

“Huge” youth unemployment rate

The very slight decline in the unemployment rate over the quarter concerns all ages, except those aged 50 and over, for whom it remained almost stable (+0.1 point) at 5.6%, its highest level since the first quarter of 2022.

Highly observed, the youth unemployment rate (15-24 years old) marked a drop of 0.5 points over the quarter, but it remains much higher than for other age groups, at 21%.

“It’s huge, it is one of the countries where we have one of the highest youth unemployment rates, so it has certainly fallen slightly but it has still increased by 1.6 points over one year,” underlines Nathalie Chusseau, who sees this as “an indicator of poor health of the labor market.”

For those aged 25-49, the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 points to 7.3%.

The long-term unemployment rate (looking for work for at least one year) stabilized at 2.1%, nevertheless remaining at its highest level since the 2nd quarter of 2022.

© 2026 AFP

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