The NSEE statistics office in France reported early on Tuesday that the French unemployment rate fell in the final quarter of 2020.
The unemployment rate in France improved in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter, with Q4’s rate registering at 8% compared to the 9.1% recorded in the third quarter of last year, which was the highest the French unemployment rate has been for two years.
Despite the seemingly positive data, INSEE said although there had been an increase in hiring in the fourth quarter, the data wasn’t fully reflective of the reality. INSEE said that the second national lockdown in France from October 30th to November 15th reduced the number of people that would normally be classified as unemployed because they were unable to register officially as unemployed.
President Emmanuel Macron inherited a French unemployment rate of 9.5% when elected in 2017 and has often publically stated his goal of cutting French unemployment down to 7% by the close of his five-year term which ends in 2022.
Prior to Macron’s term, the unemployment rate in the Euro zone’s second largest economy during the 2012-2017 term of Macron’s socialist predecessor, Francois Hollande stood at around 10%
Breaking down the unemployment figures, the French unemployment rate dropped fastest amongst 15-24 year olds, whilst slightly quicker amongst women rather than men. The number of workers on a long-term contract inched higher in the fourth quarter to 49.8% from the 49.2% recorded in the third quarter of 2020 as some hiring activity resumed.
French Unemployment Rate More Inline With EU
The improvement, albeit skewed by the impact of the Coronavirus lockdown, brings the French unemployment rate more inline with the rest of the EU which in October stood at 8.4%.
To add some context to the French unemployment rate, Spain entered the fourth quarter of 2020 with an unemployment rate of 16.4% according to figures from Eurostat.
