French unemployment is rising for the sixth consecutive time and has reached its highest level since the health crisis.
The figures showed a sixth consecutive increase, reaching 8.3% in the second quarter of 2026, the highest rate since the Covid peaks. The labor minister said the government was counting on apprenticeships to reverse the trend among young people, while the government stressed that the increase was expected because the statistics are incorporating the effects of the full-employment law for the first time, which led to all RSA recipients being included in the calculation.