France's unemployment rate drops sharply in fourth quarter

According to the report from INSEE, in Q4 2020 the number of ILO unemployed people reached 2.4 millions in France excluding Mayotte, decreasing by 340,000. The ILO unemployment rate fell by 1.1 points over the quarter to 8.0% of the labor force, after a 2.0 point rebound in the previous quarter. It was almost stable (-0.1 points) compared with its pre-crisis level in Q4 2019.

The decrease in unemployment in the quarter was primarily due to the increase in the employment rate, which recovered again on average over the quarter. But, as in the second quarter, the fall in unemployment was also partly a "trompe-l'oeil" fall: due to the second confinement, between October 30 and December 15, a significant number of people switched to inactivity (halo around unemployment or inactivity outside the halo), not being able to make active job search under the usual conditions. On the other hand, the increase in employment should be put into perspective by the decline in hours worked per job.

The decline in the unemployment rate over the quarter affected all age and sex groups. It was more pronounced for people aged 15 to 24 (-3.6 points) than for those aged 25-49 (-1.0 point) and those aged 50 or older (-0.4 points). Thus the unemployment rate was below its level a year earlier for youths (-1.5 points) and almost at the same level for their elders (+0.1 points for those aged 25-49; -0.1 points for those aged 50 and over).