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Stability of the unemployment rate in Q1 2010

The unemployment rate

The unemployment rate is stable in Q1 2010

The average ILO unemployment rate in Q1 2010 in metropolitan France and overseas departments stood at 9.9% of the active population.

In metropolitan France only, 9.5% of the active population was unemployed, i.e. 2.7 million people. It is stable compared to the revised figure of Q4 2009, and stays around the level of 1999.

More generally, in metropolitan France, 3.4 million people did 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 (see additional indicators on the internet).

ILO-unemployment rate

ILO-unemployment rate

Estimation close to +/-0.4 point of the unemployment rate

Estimation close to +/-0.3 point of the quaterly variation of the unemployment rate

France = Metropolitan France + overseas departments

Covers the population of people living in households, people aged 15 years or more

Source: INSEE, Labour Force Survey

Ilo-unemployment rate in metropolitan France
Seasonally adjusted, average over quarter - Metropolitan France
*(p) = provisional results
Covers the population of people living in households in metropolitan France, people aged 15 years or more
Source: INSEE, Labour Force Survey
ILO-unemployment rate (%) Variation in point Thousands
2009Q4 2010 Q1 (p)* over quarter over year 2010Q1 (p)*
Total 9.5 9.5 0.0 0.8 2 703
15-24 years 24.2 23.0 –1.2 0.3 634
25-49 years 8.6 8.6 0.0 0.9 1 579
50 years and more 6.5 6.6 0.1 0.9 491
Men 9.4 9.4 0.0 1.0 1 404
15-24 years 25.3 23.7 –1.6 –0.3 355
25-49 years 8.2 8.4 0.2 1.3 805
50 years and more 6.4 6.4 0.0 0.8 244
Women 9.7 9.6 –0.1 0.7 1 299
15-24 years 22.9 22.3 –0.6 1.3 278
25-49 years 9.1 8.9 –0.2 0.4 774
50 years and more 6.7 6.9 0.2 1.1 246

ILO employment and activity

The employment rate of the population aged 15-64 years increased in Q1 2010, due to the temporary contract employment: the permanent contract employment rate is still decreasing. Over Q1 2010, the employment rate of the 15-64 years stood at 63.8%: 49.3% of the 15-64 years had a permanent contract, and 6.4% had a temporary contract.

Permanent and temporary contract employment rate(15-64 years)

Permanent and temporary contract employment rate(15-64 years)

Covers the population of people living in households, people aged 15-64 years

Source: INSEE, Labour Force Survey

The activity rate of the 15-64 years was 70.6%.

ILO employment, unemployment and activity in the population aged 15-64 years
Seasonally adjusted, average over quarter - Metropolitan France
*(p) = provisional results
Covers the population of people living in households in metropolitan France, people aged 15 years or more
(1) those data cover the people who are 15-64 years old. They are a little bit different of the data in table 1 (which covers the total population).
Source: INSEE, Labour Force Survey
% of people in the age group Variation in point Thousands (1)
2009Q4 2010Q1 (p)* Over quarter Over year 2010Q1 (p)*
Employed people (15-64 years) 63,5 63,8 0,3 –0,6 25 545
Full-time equivalent employment rate 59,1 59,4 0,3 –0,7 23 785
Men aged 15-64 67,7 67,9 0,2 –0,9 13 371
Women aged 15-64 59,5 59,9 0,4 –0,1 12 174
15-24 years 27,1 28,2 1,1 –0,4 2 119
25-49 years 81,7 81,8 0,1 –0,6 16 706
50-64 years 55,2 55,6 0,4 0,0 6 720
Included : 55-64 years 41,9 41,8 –0,1 0,0 3 302
Core employment rate of 55-64 years 41,2 41,1 –0,1 0,8
Unemployed persons (15-64 years) 6,7 6,7 0,0 0,6 2 692
Men aged 15-64 7,1 7,1 0,0 0,8 1 397
Women aged 15-64 6,4 6,4 0,0 0,5 1 294
15-24 years 8,7 8,4 –0,3 0,0 634
25-49 years 7,7 7,7 0,0 0,8 1 579
50-64 years 3,9 4,0 0,1 0,7 479
Included : 55-64 years 3,1 3,0 –0,1 0,6 240
Active people (15-64 years) 70,3 70,6 0,3 0,1 28 236
Men aged 15-64 74,8 75,0 0,2 –0,1 14 768
Women aged 15-64 65,9 66,2 0,3 0,3 13 468
15-24 years 35,7 36,7 1,0 –0,2 2 753
25-49 years 89,4 89,5 0,1 0,2 18 285
50-64 years 59,1 59,5 0,4 0,6 7 199
Included : 55-64 years 45,0 44,8 –0,2 0,6 3 542
Active life expectancy of 55-64 years (years) 4,4 4,4 0,0 0,1

Underemployment increased in Q1 2010

On Q1 2010, 6.1% of the persons employed are underemployed. The increase, +0.5 point, is pulled by the rise of the unwanted part-time, which goes from 5.0% of the employed to 5.2% in the first quarter (see additional indicators on the internet). The slack work stays at a high level.

ILO underemployment
Seasonally adjusted, average over quarter - Metropolitan France
*(p) = provisional results
Covers the population of people living in households in metropolitan France, people aged 15 years or more
Source : INSEE, Labour Force Survey
ILO underemployment rate (%) Variation in point Thousands
2009 Q4 2010 Q1 (p)* Over a quarter Over a year 2010 Q1 (p)*
Total 5.6 6.1 0.5 0.7 1 573
Included : slack work 0.7 0.9 0.2 0.2 219
Women 8.5 9.0 0.5 0.8 1 074
Men 3.1 3.8 0.7 0.7 499

Revision

The ILO unemployment rate of Q4 2009 was downgraded by 0,1 point with regard to the temporary publication. In this quarter, besides the usual revisions, the weighting of the labour force survey was revised to include the results of the census 2007.

In order to improve the precision of the data on the labor market, INSEE increases gradually the size of the sample of the Labour Force Survey since the first quarter of 2009. The operation will be ended by September 2010, when the size of the sample will have been increased by 50%. From the publication of Q3 2009 data, published results incorporate the progressive extension of the sample. An improvement in the precision of the results of the Labour Force Survey is expected, which would not lead to a significant break of series on the estimated levels.

Informations Rapides

n° 150 - June 3, 2010

ILO Unemployment and Labour Market-related indicators (Labour Force Survey results) - 1st quarter 2010

For further information

Links

Time series data

More: Long time series about the labour market, data on January 2010, in French only

Local data, in French only

Metropolitan France

unemployment by "régions", by "départements", and by employment area

Unemployment in overseas departments

Guadeloupe, La Réunion, Martinique, Guyane

See also

Publications, in French only

Previous methodology

The series published until July 2007: methodology and data (.PDF, 25 KB), in French only

New

Since July 2009, display of the Informations Rapides has changed.