As in the first three months of the year, the unemployment rate in France fell in the second quarter. But the “lockdown effect” had a lot to do with it.

This is good news, but it is news that might be interpreted with caution, according to the national statistics office INSEE itself. The unemployment rate in France fell by 0.7 points in the second quarter to 7.1% of the working population (excluding Mayotte). “It is 1.3 points lower than its level in the second quarter of 2019,” INSEE points out.

The unemployment rate falls sharply for those aged 25-49 (-0.8 points) and those aged 50 and over (-1 point) but rises sharply for those under 25 (+1.8 points). It falls more sharply for women (-1.1 point) than for men (-0.3 point).

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How can such a trend take place when France has experienced the deepest recession in the same period?

“The sharp fall in unemployment as defined by the International Labour Office does not reflect an improvement in the labour market,” the institute explained in a note published on Thursday, August 13.

“The lockdown effect outweighs the trend of increase in the number of unemployed people,” it adds.

This was already clear in the first quarter when the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 points to 7.8%.

The “halo of unemployment” in a sharp rise

This decline is indeed rooted in the actual definition of the unemployed, according to the International Labour Office.

A person aged 15 years or over who meets the following three criteria: is unemployed during the reference week; is available for work in the next two weeks; has been actively looking for work in the last four weeks or has found a job that starts within three months.

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On the other hand, the “halo of unemployment”, i.e. people without a job who wish to have one but who do not meet the other International Labour Office criteria for being considered unemployed, “increased sharply during the confinement, mirroring the fall in unemployment,” INSEE points out.

In June, it concerned 4.8% of people aged 15 to 64, up 0.9 points compared to June 2019.

On top of these figures, the number of hours worked fell by 18% year-on-year in the second quarter.