A snapshot of the labour market in 2017 The fall in unemployment is confirmed: – 0.7 point compared to 2016

In France in 2017, 29.3 million people ages 15 to 64 (i.e. 71.5%) were active, within the meaning of the International Labour Organisation, whether employed or unemployed. This figure was at its highest since 1975. In particular, the activity rate of those ages 50-64 continued to increase in 2017, reaching 65.6%.

Of the 26.5 million people in employment, nine out of ten were salaried. Predominant among wage earners (84.6%), permanent jobs are in the minority among 15-24-year-olds (44.9%), who entered the labour market more recently and are less qualified than their generation overall. 6.1% of the occupied labour force was under-employed. The vast majority of this population consists of women, in particular the unskilled.

With 2.8 million unemployed within the meaning of the ILO, the unemployment rate stood at 9.4% in 2017 in France, down 0.7 points on an annual average. Long-term unemployment, which accounted for 4.2% of active labour market participants, fell for the first time since 2009. Although more frequent among young workers, unemployment lasts longer among older workers: six out of ten job-seekers aged 50 or over have been unemployed for at least a year.

In 2017, 1.6 million inactive people were in the unemployment “halo”, or 3.8% of the population ages 15 to 64. Adding the unemployment figures with those in the unemployment halo, 10.6% of 15-64-year-olds are unemployed and want to work, a decline of 0.5 percentage points in 2017.