PARIS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- France's unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 8.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, reaching its highest level since the third quarter of 2020, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said on Friday.
According to INSEE, the number of unemployed people in France, as defined by the International Labour Organization, rose by 62,000 from the previous quarter to 2.7 million in the second quarter of 2026, while the unemployment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points year on year.
Unemployment rose across all age groups, with the rate among people aged 25 to 49 reaching its highest level since the first quarter of 2021, it said. The unemployment rate among women rose to 8.2 percent, while the rate for men remained unchanged at 8.5 percent.
Long-term unemployment also continued to rise. Among the unemployed, an average of 671,000 had been without work and seeking employment for at least one year, an increase of 36,000 from the previous quarter and 116,000 from a year earlier, INSEE said. ■