Informations Rapides · 18 September 2026 · n° 223

In Q2 2026, payroll employment was stable or virtually stable in half of the regions Localized employment and unemployment rates (by region and department) - second quarter 2026

Between the end of March 2026 and the end of June 2026, payroll employment in France as a whole (excluding Mayotte) was virtually stable (-0.1%), following a stability in the previous quarter (0.0%).

In Q2 2026, payroll employment was stable or virtually stable in eight regions compared with Q1 2026. It fell by 0.2% or more in eight regions and rose by 0.6% in Guyane.

At the departmental level, payroll employment was virtually stable in 35 departments compared with the first quarter of 2026. It declined in 54 departments, with a fall of more than 0.3% in 22 departments, including a maximum fall of 0.9% in Aisne. On the other hand, payroll employment increased by 0.2% or more in eleven departments. The largest increases were in the Alpes-Maritimes (+0.4%), Corse-du-Sud (+0.5%) and Guyane (+0.6%).

At the national level, in Q2 2026, total payroll employment declined compared to the Q2 2025 (-0.3%), whilst it was stable between Q2 2024 and Q2 2025 (0.0%).

At the end of June 2026, payroll employment was at least 0.1% lower than a year earlier in ten regions. The year-on-year decline is greatest in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (-0.8%) and Grand Est region (-0.8%). Payroll employment was stable or virtually stable in five regions and increased in two regions: Corse (+0.2%) and Guyane (+2.2%).

Payroll employment fell in 71 departments. It declined by more than 0.8% in 24 departments, all in metropolitan France. Payroll employment fell most sharply in Creuse (-1.5%), Aisne (-1.6%), Jura (-1.7%) and Charente (-1.8%).

Conversely, payroll employment rose by 0.2% or more year on year in 18 departments, most of those with the highest increases in metropolitan France situated in the south-east. It increased the most in Val d’Oise (+0.7%).

In the second quarter of 2026, across the whole country (excluding Mayotte), the ILO unemployment rate rose over the year (+0.8 points). It stood at 8.3% of the labor force.

Between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, the unemployment rate rose in all regions of metropolitan France and in two overseas regions. Unemployment rate increased over a year by at least 0.8 points in five regions: Île-de-France (+0.9 points), Hauts-de-France (+0.9 points), Centre-Val de Loire (+0.9 points), La Réunion (+3.4 points) and Guyane (+3.4 points). Over the past year, the unemployment rate fell in Martinique (-1.1 points) and was virtually stable in Guadeloupe (-0.1%).

All departments have seen a year-on-year rise in the unemployment rate, with the exception of Guadeloupe and Martinique. It rose by at least 0.8 points year on year in 41 departments, most of which are located in Île-de-France, Centre-Val de Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie.

In the second quarter of 2026, the unemployment rate was still highest in the French overseas regions, ranging from 12.8% in Martinique to 20.4% in Guyane. In metropolitan France, three regions recorded an unemployment rate higher than the national average (8.3%): Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (8.7%), Occitanie (9.7%) and Hauts-de-France (10.0%). Conversely, the unemployment rate was the lowest in Bretagne (6.8%) and in the Pays de la Loire (6.8%). In these two regions, the unemployment rates in all departments were below the national average. The situation within other regions could be much more varied. For example, in Île-de-France, where the unemployment rate for the region as a whole (8.2%) was lower than the national average: it was lower in Paris (6.6%) and clearly higher in Seine-Saint-Denis (11.5%). The contrast was even more pronounced in Occitanie, between Lozère, the department with the second-lowest unemployment rate (5.0%), and the Pyrénées-Orientales, where it was the highest in metropolitan France (12.8%).