Decline in unemployment: “We must be pleased, but we are still far from the mark”

According to figures published by Pôle emploi on Wednesday, unemployment fell by 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the previous quarter of the same year. Over one year, the fall in unemployment is 12.6%. Invited to Europe Matin on Thursday, the secretary general of the CFDT Laurent Berger reacted to this observation and assured that “we must be pleased” and that it is a “collective result”.

“A collective result”

“This is good news. These figures tell us that we have done well to maintain activity during the Covid with support measures for companies and employees and that we will be able to take care of a little more those who are far from employment,” he said. “Several million people are still job seekers. We must continue to act because we are still far from the mark”, also nuanced Laurent Berger.

According to him, this observation is also linked to the policies implemented during the crisis, in particular partial unemployment. “This measure is the result of discussions between the trade unions and employers’ organizations. So when we have a collective result, we must be happy about it and we don’t need to point out the winners in this affair. It’s all of us who win when there are fewer unemployed people because there are more people who live better”, still posed the general secretary of the CDFT.

In the middle of the presidential campaign, he also affirmed that if employment is at this level at present, it is not only thanks to Emmanuel Macron, presented by his camp as “the president of employment”. “It is because the organizations have worked constantly with the government to try to find solutions, company by company, to preserve employment and even develop it, that we have this result. It is never thanks to a only one person”, finally pointed out the trade unionist.