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Decrease in the unemployment rate in Q2 2010

The unemployment rate

The unemployment rate decreased in Q2 2010

In Q2 2010, the average ILO unemployment rate in metropolitan France and overseas departments stood at 9.7% of the active population.

In metropolitan France only, 9.3% of the active population was unemployed, i.e. 2.6 million people. It is lower than in Q1 2010, but stays at a high level.

More generally, in metropolitan France, 3.3 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 +/-0.3 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
2010Q1 2010 Q2 (p)* over quarter over year 2010Q2 (p)*
Total 9,5 9,3 –0,2 0,2 2 624
15-24 years 23,3 23,3 0,0 –0,5 632
25-49 years 8,6 8,4 –0,2 0,2 1 543
50 years and more 6,6 6,1 –0,5 0,2 450
Men 9,3 9,1 –0,2 0,1 1 351
15-24 years 24,0 22,0 –2,0 –3,0 328
25-49 years 8,3 8,3 0,0 0,6 792
50 years and more 6,2 6,0 –0,2 0,3 231
Women 9,7 9,4 –0,3 0,1 1 273
15-24 years 22,4 24,7 2,3 2,3 304
25-49 years 9,0 8,6 –0,4 –0,1 750
50 years and more 6,9 6,2 –0,7 0,1 219

ILO employment and activity

The employment rate of the population aged 15-64 years was stable at 63.8% in Q2 2010. This stability hides an increase in the temporary contract, and a decline in the permanent contract: the proportion of temporary contract in the population aged 15 64 years increased at 6.6%, while the proportion of permanent contract in the same age group decreased at 49%.

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 full time equivalent employment rate is inferior by 4 points to the employment rate: it stood at 59.4% on average in Q2 2010.

The activity rate of the 15-64 years was 70.3%.

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)
2010Q1 2010 Q2 (p)* Over quarter Over year 2010 Q2 (p)*
Employed people (15-64 years) 63,8 63,8 0,0 –0,4 25 561
Full-time equivalent employment rate 59,4 59,4 0,0 –0,4 23 786
Men aged 15-64 67,8 67,9 0,1 –0,5 13 389
Women aged 15-64 59,8 59,8 0,0 –0,4 12 172
15-24 years 28,0 27,9 –0,1 –0,4 2 084
25-49 years 81,7 81,8 0,1 –0,4 16 732
50-64 years 55,5 55,6 0,1 –0,1 6 745
Included : 55-64 years 41,7 42,1 0,4 0,3 3 375
Core employment rate of 55-64 years 41,2 41,6 0,4 1,0
Unemployed persons (15-64 years) 6,7 6,5 –0,2 0,0 2 615
Men aged 15-64 7,0 6,8 –0,2 0,1 1 347
Women aged 15-64 6,4 6,2 –0,2 0,0 1 268
15-24 years 8,5 8,5 0,0 –0,3 632
25-49 years 7,7 7,5 –0,2 0,2 1 543
50-64 years 4,0 3,6 –0,4 0,1 441
Included : 55-64 years 3,1 3,0 –0,1 0,1 241
Active people (15-64 years) 70,5 70,3 –0,2 –0,4 28 176
Men aged 15-64 74,8 74,7 –0,1 –0,4 14 736
Women aged 15-64 66,3 66,1 –0,2 –0,3 13 440
15-24 years 36,5 36,3 –0,2 –0,8 2 716
25-49 years 89,4 89,3 –0,1 –0,2 18 274
50-64 years 59,5 59,2 –0,3 0,0 7 186
Included : 55-64 years 44,8 45,1 0,3 0,4 3 615
Active life expectancy of 55-64 years (years) 4,4 4,5 0,1 0,2

Underemployment decreased in Q2 2010

On Q2 2010, 5.8% of the persons employed are underemployed. The decrease, –0.3 point, is due to the decline of the slack work, which goes from 0.8% of the employed down to 0.5% in the second quarter. The unwanted part-time was stable at 5.3% of the employed (see additional indicators on the internet).

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
2010 Q1 2010 Q2 (p)* Over a quarter Over a year 2010Q2 (p)*
Total 6,1 5,8 –0,3 0,0 1 483
Included : slack work 0,8 0,5 –0,3 –0,6 126
Women 9,0 8,8 –0,2 0,5 1 087
Men 3,6 2,9 –0,7 –0,2 396

Revision

The ILO unemployment rate of Q1 2010 is not revised compared to the temporary publication of June 2010.

A more precise estimate

In order to improve the precision of the data on the labor market, INSEE gradually increased the size of the sample of the Labour Force Survey since the first quarter of 2009. The operation ended with the publication of Q2 2010 results; the size of the sample has been increased by 50%. Consequently, the estimate of the quarterly unemployment rate is more precise (+/–0.3 point against +/– 0.4 point before the increase of the sample). The estimate of the variation is also more precise, but within the limits of the rounding (+/–0,3 point).

Informations Rapides

n° 212 - September 2, 2010

ILO Unemployment and Labour Market-related indicators (Labour Force Survey results) - 2nd 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.