Youth unemployment, a persistent French problem

While it is difficult to see how the government can now win the "battle for employment" announced by Emmanuel Macron for 2022, it can, however, take a breather in the face of the onslaught of unemployment . According to figures published by INSEE this Friday, May 16, the unemployment rate, as defined by the International Labor Office (ILO), increased only slightly to 7.4% in the first quarter of 2025 in France (+0.1 points compared to the previous quarter). This relative stability appears to be a small breath of fresh air for the executive.

With Donald Trump's tariff offensive and the ever-growing list of layoffs (Auchan, Michelin, and more recently ArcelorMittal and HSBC), the impact on employment could have been much more serious. And the government is not mistaken. "There is a somewhat cold statistical reality that shows near-stability, but there is also the reality that workers are experiencing, particularly with layoffs ," acknowledged the...