France faces highest unemployment rate since 2020

The unemployment rate in France continued to rise and reached 8.3% of the economically active population in the second quarter of 2026. This is 0.2 percentage points higher than in the first three months of the year, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

The figure was the highest since the second half of 2020. In the first quarter of 2026, unemployment stood at 8.1%, in the fourth quarter of 2025 — 7.9%, and in the third quarter of last year — 7.7%.

Thus, the situation on the French labor market has been deteriorating for several quarters in a row. Compared to the second quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate has increased by about 0.7 percentage points.

INSEE calculates the figure according to the International Labour Organization methodology. Unemployed persons are those who are without work, available to start work in the near future and actively seeking employment. Therefore, these data differ from the number of jobseekers registered with France Travail.

Already in the first quarter, the number of unemployed according to this methodology amounted to about 2.6 million persons. At that time, their number increased by 68 thousand over three months.

The deterioration of indicators occurs against the backdrop of sluggish French economic performance. In the first quarter of 2026, France's GDP contracted by 0.1%. At the same time, businesses have become more cautious in hiring workers, and the labor market situation gradually ceased to correspond to the previously stated government goal of approaching full employment.

In its June economic forecast, INSEE also expected further pressure on the labor market in the second half of the year. Contributing factors include weak economic growth and higher business costs amid rising energy prices.

France remains the second largest economy in the eurozone after Germany, so the worsening situation on its labor market is one of the indicators of the economic health of the entire currency bloc.

Based on materials from: INSEE, Folha de S.Paulo