In Q4 2010, the average ILO unemployment rate in metropolitan France and overseas departments stood at 9.6% of the active population.
In metropolitan France only, 9.2% of the active population was unemployed, i.e. 2.6 million people. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 point q-o-q, and 0.4 point y-o-y.
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

Estimation close to +/-0.3 point of the unemployment rate Estimation close to +/-0.3 point of the quarterly 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
| 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 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010Q3 | 2010Q4 (p)* | over quarter | over year | 2010Q4 (p)* | |||||||||||||
| Total | 9,3 | 9,2 | –0,1 | –0,3 | 2 602 | ||||||||||||
| 15-24 years | 24,2 | 22,3 | –1,9 | –1,8 | 586 | ||||||||||||
| 25-49 years | 8,4 | 8,5 | 0,1 | –0,1 | 1 543 | ||||||||||||
| 50 years and more | 6,4 | 6,3 | –0,1 | –0,3 | 472 | ||||||||||||
| Men | 9,0 | 8,5 | –0,5 | –0,9 | 1 265 | ||||||||||||
| 15-24 years | 23,0 | 20,7 | –2,3 | –4,3 | 304 | ||||||||||||
| 25-49 years | 8,0 | 7,7 | –0,3 | –0,5 | 730 | ||||||||||||
| 50 years and more | 6,2 | 6,0 | –0,2 | –0,5 | 232 | ||||||||||||
| Women | 9,7 | 9,9 | 0,2 | 0,3 | 1 337 | ||||||||||||
| 15-24 years | 25,6 | 24,3 | –1,3 | 1,4 | 283 | ||||||||||||
| 25-49 years | 8,8 | 9,3 | 0,5 | 0,3 | 814 | ||||||||||||
| 50 years and more | 6,7 | 6,6 | –0,1 | –0,1 | 241 | ||||||||||||
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
Permanent contracts don’t decrease anymore in Q4 2010, and stabilize at 48.8% of the population aged 15-64. Temporary contracts increase by 0,2 point, at 6.8%.
| 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) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010Q3 | 2010Q4 (p)* | Over quarter | Over year | 2010Q4 (p)* | |||||||||||||
| Employed people (15-64 years) | 63,8 | 63,7 | –0,1 | 0,2 | 25 575 | ||||||||||||
| Full-time equivalent employment rate | 59,3 | 59,4 | 0,1 | 0,3 | 23 849 | ||||||||||||
| Men aged 15-64 | 67,9 | 68,2 | 0,3 | 0,4 | 13 471 | ||||||||||||
| Women aged 15-64 | 59,8 | 59,4 | –0,4 | 0,0 | 12 104 | ||||||||||||
| 15-24 years | 26,9 | 27,4 | 0,5 | 0,2 | 2 044 | ||||||||||||
| 25-49 years | 81,8 | 81,6 | –0,2 | –0,2 | 16 677 | ||||||||||||
| 50-64 years | 56,1 | 56,0 | –0,1 | 0,8 | 6 854 | ||||||||||||
| Included : 55-64 years | 42,8 | 42,8 | 0,0 | 1,0 | 3 462 | ||||||||||||
| Core employment rate of 55-64 years | 42,7 | 42,9 | 0,2 | 1,9 | |||||||||||||
| Unemployed persons (15-64 years) | 6,6 | 6,5 | –0,1 | –0,2 | 2 597 | ||||||||||||
| Men aged 15-64 | 6,7 | 6,4 | –0,3 | –0,7 | 1 261 | ||||||||||||
| Women aged 15-64 | 6,4 | 6,6 | 0,2 | 0,2 | 1 336 | ||||||||||||
| 15-24 years | 8,6 | 7,9 | –0,7 | –0,7 | 586 | ||||||||||||
| 25-49 years | 7,5 | 7,6 | 0,1 | –0,1 | 1 543 | ||||||||||||
| 50-64 years | 3,9 | 3,8 | –0,1 | –0,1 | 468 | ||||||||||||
| Included : 55-64 years | 3,3 | 2,9 | –0,4 | –0,1 | 238 | ||||||||||||
| Active people (15-64 years) | 70,4 | 70,2 | –0,2 | –0,1 | 28 172 | ||||||||||||
| Men aged 15-64 | 74,6 | 74,6 | 0,0 | –0,3 | 14 732 | ||||||||||||
| Women aged 15-64 | 66,2 | 65,9 | –0,3 | 0,1 | 13 441 | ||||||||||||
| 15-24 years | 35,5 | 35,3 | –0,2 | –0,5 | 2 630 | ||||||||||||
| 25-49 years | 89,3 | 89,1 | –0,2 | –0,3 | 18 221 | ||||||||||||
| 50-64 years | 60,0 | 59,8 | –0,2 | 0,7 | 7 321 | ||||||||||||
| Included : 55-64 years | 46,0 | 45,8 | –0,2 | 1,0 | 3 700 | ||||||||||||
| Active life expectancy of 55-64 years (years) | 4,6 | 4,6 | 0,0 | 0,2 | |||||||||||||
In Q4 2010, 6.0% of the persons employed are underemployed. The increase (+0.4 point) is due to the increase of the slack work, which goes from 0.4% of the employed up to 0.8%, due to cold temperatures in 2010, December. The unwanted part-time was stable at 5.2% of the employed (see additional indicators on the internet).
| 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 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010Q3 | 2010Q4 (p)* | Over a quarter | Over a year | 2010Q4 (p)* | |||||||||||||
| Total | 5,6 | 6,0 | 0,4 | 0,4 | 1 538 | ||||||||||||
| Included : slack work | 0,4 | 0,8 | 0,4 | 0,2 | 198 | ||||||||||||
| Women | 8,6 | 8,8 | 0,2 | 0,2 | 1 050 | ||||||||||||
| Men | 3,1 | 3,7 | 0,6 | 0,6 | 489 | ||||||||||||
The ILO unemployment rate of Q3 2010 is not revised compared to the temporary publication of December 2010.
n° 60 - March 3, 2011
ILO Unemployment and Labour Market-related indicators (Labour Force Survey results) - 4th Quarter 2010
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.