The Minister of Labor, Elisabeth Borne, greeted Monday December 27 a “Good news on the employment front”, with unemployment that “Continued to decline very sharply in November”. In particular, she underlined that “Youth unemployment is at its lowest level for nearly fifteen years”.
She commented on the monthly unemployment figures published a little earlier by the Ministry of Labor, pointing to a further decline in the number of job seekers without any activity (activity A) in November (- 1.7%, to stand at 3.321 million people), after a drop of 3.3% in October. These monthly figures are however considered volatile from one month to another, the statistics department (Dares) only commenting on quarterly developments.
Including reduced activity (categories B and C), the number of job seekers in France (excluding Mayotte) was down 0.7% in November compared to the previous month and stood at 5.669 million, according to the Dares.
The latest quarterly results published at the end of October showed a drop in the number of category A unemployed by 5.5% in the third quarter. Category A was then just below the pre-crisis level, with 5,200 fewer job seekers compared to 4e quarter 2019. For categories A, B and C as a whole, it remained above its pre-crisis level (+ 124,100).