Unemployment is no longer falling, and fears of a trend reversal are growing

The picture of the most lenient that was emerging at the start of the year on the French employment front – with record and historical projections – has just darkened somewhat… After nearly two years of almost continuous decline and ambient euphoria, the good momentum surrounding the fall in the number of jobless people came to a halt in the second quarter of 2022. Between April and June , the unemployment rate as defined by the International Labor Office (ILO) fell very slightly to 7.4% of the working population in France as a whole (excluding Mayotte) whereas it was 7.3% in the previous quarter, i.e. its lowest level recorded since 2008. The unemployment rate has thus reversed again and returned to its level of the fourth quarter of 2021. And, more worryingly, the situation of young people under 25 has deteriorated by 1.3 points , to reach 17.8% of the age group, despite several tens of billions of euros invested in bonuses for hiring and apprenticeship over two years. In total…