Unemployment down 9.3% according to INSEE

According to insee and Le Figaro news of September 2, The ILO unemployment rate for the second quarter came out lower for the first time since the beginning of the crisis.

A firstère since the first quarter of 2008. The ILO unemployment rate publié ce jeudi par l'Insee shows a drop, à 9.3% for mainland France and 9.7% including overseas departments, compared with 9.5% and 9.9% respectively in the first quarter of 2010. In mainland France, 2.6 million people were not at work, even for an hour, during the survey week, and are actively seeking employment. Despite the downturn, however, the unemployment rate remains à at its highest level for ten years.

At the same time, the number of jobseekers has risen to a record high.

For Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, «France is moving from the good sideôté of employment stabilization». «I'm delighted with these significant falls in the unemployment rate, the firstèsince the beginning of the crisis», she confides to Le Figaro.

The French economy is on the road to recovery.

In the Minister's entourage, the main focus is on the drop in the unemployment rate among senior citizens à 6.1% in the second quarter, after 6.6% in the first quarter. «These évolutions récentes employment and unemployment témo clearly demonstrate the positive effects of the governmentés policy».

Youth unemployment remains stable

The unemployment rate for 25-49 year-olds also éfell, à8.4% instead of 8.6%, while that for young people remained stable à23.3%. There are also fewer people in underemployment, i.e. those who work less than they would like to, due to the rise in part-time work. Part-time work, on the other hand, remains at the same level.

Also, while the employment rate remains identical to the previous quarter, écédent, à 63.8%, Insee points out that this stabilityé masks the decline in contracts à durée indetérminée (CDI) which began in 2008, while precécary contracts (à durée déterminée and intérim contracts) are tending on the contrary to rise, à 6.6% instead of 6.4% in the first quarter.

Good indicators

The decline announced this Thursday by Insee comes, however à in support of other indicators récently published. In addition to the creation of 60,000 salaried positions in the first half of 2010, the number of category A jobseekers registered by Péle emploi fell for the second consecutive month in July. The Ministry of Labour also reports that redundancy plans notified to à the administration have increased by 28% compared to à the admittedly catastrophic year 2009. As for à executive employment, it has been rebounding since January.

Still à employment in the public sector is on the rise.

The question remains à whether growth will be sufficient to sustain this momentum. The proliferation of poor indicators in the United States has recently raised the spectre of a «double dip» i.e., a return to recession. And in France, the government has recently revised àdownwards its growth forecasts for 2011, à2% instead of 2.5%. A scenario that most économists still consider too optimistic.

Sources Le figaro - Insee