Informations Rapides · 10 November 2026 · n° 270

In Q3 2026, the unemployment rate stood at 8.2%, increasing by 0.4 points year on year ILO Unemployment and Labour Market-related indicators (Labour Force Survey results) - third quarter 2026

In Q3 2026, the number of unemployed people in France (excluding Mayotte) as defined by the International Labour Office (ILO) decreased by 47,000 over the quarter and reached 2.6 million people. The ILO unemployment rate was virtually stable over the quarter (-0.1 points) and stood at 8.2% of the labour force. It was higher by 0.4 points than its level from one year ago (+150,000 unemployed people), but still remained clearly below its peak level reached in Q2 2015 (-2.3 points).

Over the quarter, the unemployment rate decreased for people aged 15 to 24 (-0.5 points, to 21.0%) and for people aged 25 to 49 (-0.2 point, to 7.3 %). For people aged 50 or more, the unemployment rate was virtually stable (+0.1 points), at 5.6%, its highest level since Q1 2022. Over the year, the unemployment rate rose across all age groups: +1.6 points for people aged 15 to 24, +0.2 points for people aged 25 to 49 and +0.5 points for people aged 50 or more.

Women’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 points over the quarter, to 7.8% while men’s unemployment rate was virtually stable (+0.1 points), at 8.6%. Over the year, women’s unemployment rate was stable while men’s unemployment rate increased by 0.8 points.

Q3 2026 is also the seventh quarter in which the French “full employment Act” (Loi pour le plein emploi) was implemented: over those seven quarters, RSA recipients and young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail accounted for just under half of the rise in the unemployment rate (see below).

Among the inactive people as defined by the ILO, 1.9 million wanted a job without being considered unemployed, because they either did not seek a job or were not immediately available: they made up the halo around unemployment.

The share of halo in the population of people aged 15 to 64 was virtually stable over the quarter (-0.1 points) and slightly decreased over the year (-0.2 points), to 4.3%. Over the quarter, the share of halo was virtually stable for people aged 15 to 24 (+0.1 points, at 7.4%) and for people aged 25 to 49 (-0.1 points, at 4.2%); it was stable for people aged 50 to 64, at 2.7%. Over the year, the share of halo was stable for people aged 15 to 24 while it decreased for people aged 25 to 49 (-0.3 points) and people aged 50 to 64 (-0.2 points).

Among the unemployed, 680,000 people on average declared being jobless and having been job seeking for at least one year in Q3 2026, that is 7,000 more than in the previous quarter and 82,000 more than a year ago. The long-term unemployment rate was stable over the quarter, at 2.1%, thus remaining at its highest level since Q1 2022.

On average in Q3 2026, the employment rate of people aged 15 to 64 was virtually stable (+0.1 points), at 69.1%. Over the year, it decreased by 0.2 points.

Over the quarter, the employment rate decreased by 0.2 points for people aged 15 to 24, to 33.7%. It was virtually stable for people aged 25 to 49 (+0.1 points, at 82.5%) and slightly increased for people aged 50 to 64 (+0.2 points, to 69.3%), back to its highest level since INSEE started measuring it (1975), reached in Q2 2025 and in Q4 2025. Over the year, the unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 felt by 0.8 points, while it was virtually stable for people aged 25 to 49 (-0.1 points) et for people aged 50 to 64 (+0.1 points).

The employment rate for women was stable (at 66.8%) both over the quarter and over the year, while men’s employment rate was virtually stable over the quarter (+0.1 points, at 71.4%), but decreased by 0.4 points over the year.

In Q3 2026, the full-time employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 increased over the quarter by 0.2 points, to 57.5%. It was stable over the year. The part-time employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 was virtually stable both over the quarter and over the year (-0.1 points, at 11.6%). Thus, the share of part-time employment in total employment decreased by 0.2 points over the quarter, to 17.6%, almost at the same level as a year ago (-0.1 points). It was 0.5 points higher than its previous lowest level at the end of 2022, but remained 1.2 points below its level at the end of 2019.

In Q3 2026, 4.6% of employed people were underemployed. It increased by 0.2 points both over the quarter and the year. It remained 1.3 points below its level at the end of 2019.

On average, in Q3 2026, 17.2% of participants in the labour market (active people or in the halo around unemployment) were constrained in their labour supply, either by the absence of a job (unemployed or halo around unemployment), or in a situation of underemployment. This share is stable over the quarter. Over the quarter, it increased by 0.3 points, but remained clearly below its level at the end of 2019 (-1.8 points).

In Q3 2026, the average number of hours worked per job was virtually stable over the quarter and over the year, at 31.2 hours per week. Since mid-2022, the number of hours worked has slightly fluctuated around its level before the health crisis (31.3 hours in Q4 2019).

Employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 was virtually stable for permanent employment over the quarter (+0.1 points) and over the year (-0.1 points), at 51.1%. Employment rate for fixed-term contract was stable both over the quarter and over the year, at 5.2%. Employment rate for temporary work was stable over the quarter at 1.3% and virtually stable over the year (+0.1 points). The self-employment rate was virtually stable both over the quarter and over the year (-0.1 points), at 8.8%. The work-study employment rate was stable over the quarter but decreased by 0.2 points over the year, to 2.3%.

In Q3 2026, the activity rate for people aged 15 to 64 stood at 75.3%: it was virtually stable both over the quarter (-0.1 points) and over the year (+0.1 points). It remained slightly under its highestlevel since INSEE started measuring it (1975), reached in Q1 2026 (75.5%). It stood 2.6 points above its level at the end of 2019.

Over the quarter, the activity rate for people aged 15 to 24 decreased by 0.4 points, to 42.7%, slightly belowthe level it was a year ago (-0.1 points). The activity rate for people aged 25 to 49 was virtually stable over the quarter (-0.1 points), at 89.0%, and was stable over the year. The activity rate for people aged 50 to 64 increased again (+0.2 points), bringing its year-on-year increase to +0.4 points: it reached 73.4%, its highest level since INSEE started measuring it (1975). More specifically, the activity rate for people aged 55 to 64 was stable at 65.9% and stood 0.7 points above its level a year ago and 6.7 points above its level at the end of 2019.

Over the quarter and among people aged 15 to 64, activity rate for women decreased by 0.3 points, to 72.5%, back at the level it was a year ago, while the activity rate for men increased by 0.2 points both over the quarter and over the year, to 78.2%.

In Q3 2026, the share of young people aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) was stable, at 13.3%. This share stood 0.4 points above its level from a year ago and 0.9 points above its level from the end of 2019.

The French “Full Employment Act” (Loi pour le plein emploi), adopted in December 2023, provided for the systematic registration with the national public employment service, France Travail, starting in early 2025, of RSA recipients, young people supported by local youth missions, and people with disabilities supported by Cap emploi. This mechanically led to a sharp increase in the number of people registered with France Travail in Q1 2025 (Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletDares, 2025).

Insee published a first overview of the labour market situation — according to the ILO definition — of RSA recipients in the second half of 2024, on the eve of the law's implementation (Insee, 2025). Since then, INSEE has followed every quarter the contribution of the targeted public to the main labour market indicators in its short-term economic publications. More precisely, it details the contributions of RSA recipients (here including all individuals aged 15 or over belonging to a household including at least one RSA recipient) and of young people registered with France Travail.

In Q3 2026, the activity rate for RSA recipients increased over the quarter (+1.6 points), to 50.3%. Since the implementation of the law, it increased by 4.5 points. Over seven quarters, RSA recipients thus contributed, given their weight, to +0.22 points to the change in the activity rate of people aged 15 to 64 years (out of +0.75 points in total).

Among the labour force, unemployment rate for RSA recipients decreased for the first time since the law took effect. It reached 46.2%, a decrease of 1.9 points over the quarter. However, since Q4 2024, it increased by 5.4 points. Given their weight among the labour force, they contributed to +0.29 points to the cumulated evolution over the seven quarters (out of +0.98 points in total), which is a bit more than the third of the overall increase.

Regarding employment rate for RSA recipients, it bounced back by 1.9 points over the quarter, to 26.8%, almost its level a year ago (-0.1 points). Thus over seven quarters RSA recipients almost did not contribute (-0.03 points) to the overall employment rate evolution (+0.07 points).

In Q3 2026, the activity rate among young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail decreased by 0.3 points over the quarter, to 78.4%. However, since Q4 2024, it rose by 0.9 points. Given their weight, the contribution to the overall change remained very low (+0.04 points out of +0.75 points in total).

Among the labour force, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail reached 48.7%, decreasing by 1.1 points over the quarter. Since Q4 2024, it increased by 1.7 points, contributing very slightly (+0.06 points) to the overall unemployment increase (+0.84 points).

In addition, the employment rate for young people aged 15 to 29 registered with France Travail bounced back over the quarter (+0.7 points, to 40.2%). However, since the end of 2024, it decreased by 0.8 points thus contributing to -0.03 points to the overall employment rate (+0.07 points).

Finally, after seven quarters of the “Full Employment Act” implementation, the two targeted groups contributed for less than the half of the rise in the unemployment rate since the end of 2024 (+0.35 points out of +0.84 points in total). However, those contributions should be taken carefully given survey uncertainties and the low share of those population. In addition, those are mathematical contributions: they cannot distinguish between the effects of the law and the cyclical effects on those groups.

Compared to previous publications, adjustments may be due to the usual updating of seasonal adjustment coefficients. Nevertheless, compared to the first estimation published on 7 August 2026, either ILO unemployment rate, or the activity rate of people aged 15 to 64 or employment rate of people aged 15 to 64 remained unchanged.