The average ILO unemployment rate for Q1 2009 in metropolitan France and overseas departments was 9.1% of the active population.
Time series data since Q1 1996
In metropolitan France only, it stood at 8.7%, i.e., about 2.5 million people. It goes up by 1.1 point compared to the revised Q4 2008.
Time series data since Q1 1975
More generally, in metropolitan France, 3.1 million people do not work but would like to work, whether they are available or not for work within two weeks, or whether they look actively for a job or not.
Time series data since Q1 2003
Among employed people, 5.4% were under-employed during Q1 2009. It goes up by 0.3 point, especially because of the growth of the people put in short-time working.
On average, the employment rate over Q1 2009 in the population aged 15-64 years was 64.5% and the activity rate in the population aged 15-64 years 70.6%. The full time equivalent employment rate is inferior by 4 points to the employment rate : it reaches 60.3% of the working age population.
Time series data since Q1 2003
From the publication of December 2008 (results of the third quarter of 2008), new indicators are available, broken down by sex and age (Time series data since the first quarter of 2003) :
Full time and part time employment rate
Full time equivalent employment rate
Understand this new indicators
| % | |||||
| (p) = provisional results | |||||
| Warning : From the first quarter of 2008 onwards, the wording of the question on the wish to work longer hours used for the calculation of under-employment, and the definition of under-employment have been amended to be closer to the ILO-concept. On the one hand, the wish to work longer hours is now expressed, as in the ILO measure of unemployment, for a reference week and not with a undetermined horizon. This modification makes any comparison with previous levels impossible. On the other hand, the part-time workers, who want to work longer hours, and are looking for a job but are not available are no longer considered as under-employed. | |||||
| Source: Insee, Labour Force Survey | |||||
| 2008Q1 | 2008Q2 | 2008Q3 | 2008Q4 | 2009Q1 (p) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan France plus French overseas departments | |||||
| Unemployment rate (in the active population) | 7.6 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 9.1 |
| Metropolitan France | |||||
| Unemployment rate (in the active population) | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 8.7 |
| Employment rate (in the population of 15-64 years) | 64.8 | 64.8 | 64.7 | 64.8 | 64.5 |
| Activity rate (in the population of 15-64 years) | 69.8 | 70.0 | 69.9 | 70.1 | 70.6 |
| Under-employment rate (among workers) | 4.6 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
n° 152 - June 4, 2009
ILO Unemployment and Labour Market-related indicators (Labour Force Survey results) - First Quarter 2009
More: Long time series about the labour market, data on January 2010, in French only
unemployment by "régions", by "départements", and by employment area
Guadeloupe, La Réunion, Martinique, Guyane
The series published until July 2007: methodology and data (.PDF, 25 KB), in French only
Since July 2009, display of the Informations Rapides has changed.