“The return of mass unemployment”

The permanence of mass unemployment constitutes a French exception. Unlike large developed countries, our country has never returned to full employment since the oil crises. The unemployment rate has never been lower than 7% of the active population since 1977. While it had reached 10.4% during the five-year term of François Hollande, it decreased under the presidencies of Emmanuel Macron until at 7.2%, while remaining well above the full employment threshold set at 5% – which the United States (4.1%) and the United Kingdom (4.3%) respect.

However, since the summer of 2024, the French labor market has experienced a sudden turnaround. The unemployment rate rose to 7.4% and peaked at 19.7% among young people. It will rise to 7.5% at the end of the year and will tend towards 8% at the end of 2025, due to the surge in corporate bankruptcies and social plans – such as Michelin, Auchan, Airbus Défense – as well as the cessation of…