Informations Rapides · 7 August 2026 · n° 192

In Q2 2026, the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 points and reached 8.3% ILO Unemployment and Labour Market-related indicators (Labour Force Survey results) - second quarter 2026

In Q2 2026, the number of unemployed people in France (excluding Mayotte) as defined by the International Labour Office (ILO) increased by 62,000 over the quarter and reached 2.7 million people. The ILO unemployment rate stood at 8.3% of the labour force, up by 0.2 points over the quarter and by 0.7 points over the year (+261,000 people). It reached its highest level since Q3 2020, which was affected by the health crisis, and since Q3 2019 onward. However, it still remained clearly below its peak level reached in Q2 2015 (-2.2 points).

Over the quarter, the unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 bounced back: +0.4 points, to 21.6%. For people aged 25 to 49, it increased by 0.2 points, to 7.5%, reaching its highest level since Q1 2021. The unemployment rate for people aged 50 or more also increased: +0.3 points, to 5.5 %, its highest level since Q1 2022. Over the year, the unemployment rate also rose across all age groups: +2.5 points for people aged 15 to 24, +0.5 points for people aged 25 to 49 and +0.7 points for people aged 50 or more.

Women’s unemployment rate rose by 0.4 points over the quarter, to 8.2%, while men’s unemployment rate was stable, at 8.5 %. Over the year, the unemployment rate similarly increased for women and for men: +0.8 points.

Q2 2026 is also the sixth quarter in which the French “full employment Act” (Loi pour le plein emploi) was implemented: over those six quarters, RSA recipients and young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail contributed to almost the half of the rise in the unemployment rate (see below).

Among the inactive people as defined by the ILO, 1.9 million wanted a job without being considered unemployed, because they either did not seek a job or were not immediately available: they made up the halo around unemployment. This number was virtually stable over the quarter (+6,000).

The share of halo in the population of people aged 15 to 64 was stable over the quarter and virtually stable over the year (-0.1 points), to 4.4%. Over the quarter, the share of halo increased by 0.2 points amongst people aged 15 to 24, to 7.3%, while it was stable for those aged 25 to 49 (at 4.3%) and virtually stable for those aged 50 to 64 (-0.1 points), to 2.7%.

Among the unemployed, 671,000 people on average declared being jobless and having been job seeking for at least one year in Q2 2026, that is 36,000 more than in the previous quarter and 116,000 more than a year ago. The long-term unemployment rate therefore slightly increased over the quarter: +0.1 points, bringing the year-on-year rise to +0.4 points. It reached 2.1% of the labour force, its highest level since Q2 2022. This year-on-year rise is a bit more important for men (+0.4 points over the year) than for women (+0.2 points).

On average in Q2 2026, the employment rate of people aged 15 to 64 decreased by 0.3 points, to 69.0%, bringing the year-on-year downturn to -0.5 points.

The employment rate decreased over the quarter for all main age groups: -0.3 points for people aged 15 to 24, to 33.8 %, as well as for people aged 25 to 49, to 82.4%, and -0.2 points for people aged 50 to 64, to 69.1%. It also declined over the year for each of those groups: -1.0 point for people aged 15 to 24, -0.5 points for people aged 25 to 49 and -0.2 points for people aged 50 to 64. Among seniors, only the employment rate still increased for those aged 60 to 64: +0.3 points over the quarter (+1.2 points over the year), to 45.8%.

Over the quarter, the unemployment rate decrease is comparable for women (-0.3 points) and for men (-0.2 points). Over the year, employment rate for men decreased more (-0.7 points) than for women (-0.2 points).

In Q2 2026, the full-time employment rate decreased over the quarter (-0.2 points), to 57.3%. Over the year, it declined by 0.4 points. The part-time employment was stable over the quarter and over the year, at 11.7%. The share of part-time employment in total employment was stable over the quarter, at 17.8%, almost at the same level (+0.1 points) as a year ago. It was 0.7 points higher than its previous lowest level at the end of 2022, but remained 1.0 point below its level at the end of 2019.

In Q2 2026, 4.4% of employed people were underemployed. This share was stable over the quarter and virtually stable over the year (-0.1 points). It remained 1.5 points below its level at the end of 2019.

On average, in Q2 2026, 17.2% of participants in the labour market (active people or in the halo around unemployment) were constrained in their labour supply, either by the absence of a job (unemployed or halo around unemployment), or in a situation of underemployment. This share rose by 0.2 points over the quarter and by 0.5 over the year but remained clearly below its level at the end of 2019 (-1.8 points).

In Q2 2026, the average number of hours worked per job was stable over the quarter and virtually stable over the year, at 31.1 hours per week. Since mid-2022, the number of hours worked has slightly fluctuated around its level before the health crisis (31.3 hours in Q4 2019).

Both over the quarter and over the year, employment rates for people aged 15 to 64 were stable for permanent employment, fixed-term contract and temporary work. The self-employment was stable over the quarter and virtually stable over the year (-0.1 points), at 9.0%. The work-study employment rate slightly decreased over the quarter (-0.1 points), bringing the year-on-year decrease to -0.2 points, to 2.3%.

The activity rate of people aged 15 to 64 very slightly edged down by 0.1 points over the quarter: it stood at 75.4% on Q2 2026, just below its highest level since INSEE started measuring it (1975), reached on Q1 2026 (75.5%). It remained higher than its level a year ago (+0.2 points) and it stood 2.7 points above its level at the end of 2019.

Over the quarter, the activity rate for people aged 15 to 24 decreased by 0.2 points, to 43.1%, almost the level it was a year ago (+0.1 points). The activity rate for people aged 25 to 49 also decreased, by 0.3 points, to 89.0%. On the contrary, for people aged 50 to 64, the activity rate rose slightly by 0.1 points, bringing its year-on-year increase to +0.3 points: it reached 73.2%, its highest level since INSEE started measuring it (1975). Amongst seniors, activity rate for people aged 55 to 64 reached 65.9%, that is 0.8 points higher than its level from a year ago and 6.7% higher than its level at the end of 2019.Regarding people aged 60 to 64, activity rate rose by 1.9 points over the year, to 48.7%.

Over the quarter and among people aged 15 to 64, activity rate for women was stable at 72.8% while it decreased by 0.2 points for men (to 78.0%). Over the year, the gap reduced by 0.6 points: +0.4 points for women, -0.2 points for men.

In Q2 2026, the share of young people aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) was stable, at 13.3%. This share stood 0.3 points above its level from a year ago and 0.9 points above its level from the end of 2019.

The French “Full Employment Act” (Loi pour le plein emploi), adopted in December 2023, provides for the systematic registration with the national public employment service, France Travail, starting in early 2025, of RSA recipients and their partners, young people supported by local youth missions, and people with disabilities supported by Cap emploi. This mechanically led to a sharp increase in the number of people registered with France Travail in Q1 2025 (Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletDares, 2025).

Insee published a first overview of the labour market situation — according to the ILO definition — of RSA recipients in the second half of 2024, on the eve of the law's implementation (Insee, 2025). Since then, INSEE has followed every quarter the contribution of the targeted public to the main labour market indicators in its short-term economic publications. More precisely, it details the contributions of RSA recipients (here including all individuals aged 15 or over belonging to a household including at least one RSA recipient) and of young people registered with France Travail.

In Q2 2026, the activity rate for RSA recipients was virtually stable over the quarter (+0.2 points), at 48.3%. Since the implementation of the law, it however increased by 2.5 points. Thus RSA recipients contributed, given their weight, to +0.13 points to the change in the activity rate of people aged 15 to 64 years over the six quarters (out of +0.78 points in total).

Among the labour force, unemployment rate for RSA recipients reached 48.6%, an increase of 1.7 points over the quarter and bringing the increase from Q4 2024 to +7.9 points. Given their weight among the labour force, they contributed to +0.08 points to the change in unemployment rate this quarter (out of +0.20 points in total) and to +0.31 points to the cumulated evolution over the six quarters (out of +0.98 points in total).

Regarding employment rate for RSA recipients, it decreased by 0.8 points over the quarter and by 2.5 points since the end of 2024, to 24.5 %. Thus over six quarters RSA recipients contributed to -0.13 points to the overall evolution of the employment rate (-0.03 points).

In Q2 2026, the activity rate among young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail decreased by 0.3 points over the quarter, to 78.6%. However, since Q4 2024, it rose by 1.1 points. Its contribution to the overall change remained very low (+0.04 points out of +0.78 points in total).

Among the labour force, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail reached 49.8%, decreasing by 0.4 points over the quarter, thus almost not contributing (-0.02 points) to the overall unemployment rate rise over the quarter (+0.20 points). Over six quarters, it increased by 2.8 points, contributing to +0.11 points to the unemployment overall increase (+0.98 points).

In addition, the employment rate for young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail was virtually stable over the quarter (+0.2 points, to 39.4%). However, since the end of 2024, it decreased by 1.6 points thus contributing to -0.06 points to the overall employment rate (-0.03 points).

Finally, after six quarters of the “Full Employment Act” implementation, the two targeted groups contributed to almost the half of the rise in the unemployment rate since the end of 2024 (+0.44 points out of +0.98 points in total). However, those contributions should be taken carefully given survey uncertainties and the low share of those population. In addition, those are mathematical contributions: they cannot distinguish between the effects of the law and the cyclical effects on those groups.

On France scope (including Mayotte), thus considering only adjustments due to the usual updating of seasonal adjustment coefficients, the ILO unemployment rate, the employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 and the activity rate for people aged 15 to 64 remained unchanged compared to indicators measured in Q1 2026.