Overview
- Insee reported on Tuesday that unemployment in the third quarter of 2026 was 8.2%, a 0.1-point drop from Q2 but 0.4 point higher than a year earlier.
- About 2.6 million people were classified as unemployed in Q3, a decline of 47,000 from the prior quarter under the ILO-based Insee measure.
- Young people remain the hardest hit with a 15–24 unemployment rate near 21% even after a 0.5-point quarterly fall.
- Long-term joblessness rose to 680,000 people (2.1%), an increase of 7,000 on the quarter, and unemployment among those 50 and over edged up to 5.6%, its highest since early 2022.
- Insee says automatic RSA registration at France Travail explains a large share of the measured rise in unemployment and, combined with weak 2026 growth, analysts forecast about 8.6% by end-Q4 2026 and roughly 9% by end-2027, making the government’s 5% target unlikely.