Work: Unemployment rate up slightly by 0.1 points to 7.4% in the first quarter

The unemployment rate in France, as defined by the International Labour Office (ILO), increased by 0.1 percentage points in the first quarter of 2025 to reach 7.4%, INSEE announced on Friday.

The number of unemployed people seeking employment and immediately available on the labor market increased by 64,000 compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, to 2.4 million people, the National Institute of Statistics said.

Over the past year, the unemployment rate has fallen by 0.1 percentage points. It remains "slightly higher" than its low point of late 2022-early 2023, which was 7.1%, and well below its peak of 10.5% in mid-2015.

The unemployment halo, made up of 1.9 million people who are not considered unemployed according to the ILO definition because they are not looking for work or are not available, "decreased significantly" by 0.3 points over the quarter, to 4.3%, "after an increase of the same magnitude in the previous quarter," INSEE details.

The unemployment rate for young people aged 15-24 is virtually stable (+0.1%) at 19.2%, increasing by 1.1 points year-on-year. The unemployment rate for those aged 25-49 increased by 0.1 points and decreased by 0.1 points to 6.7%. The unemployment rate for seniors aged 50 and over was stable over the quarter at 4.7%, decreasing by 0.3 points year-on-year. Finally, the unemployment rate for women increased by 0.3 points to 7.4%, matching the rate for men, which decreased by 0.1 points.