The goal of full employment by 2027, i.e. an unemployment rate of around 5%, up from the current 7.1%, is “closer than ever”, Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt said on Tuesday.
“The French economy since 2017 has created 1.7 million jobs, with an unemployment rate falling from 9.5% to 7.1%” in the first quarter of 2023, Olivier Dussopt stressed. And “more than half of the contracts of more than a month” are permanent, a rising rate, he congratulated himself.
Between 800,000 and 1.3 million jobs to be created in 2027
To achieve full employment, “the French economy must be capable of creating some 800,000 jobs at the end of the five-year period if we want to reach 5% unemployment”, the minister detailed. This figure rises to “1.3 million if we want reaching 5% unemployment to be accompanied by a reduction in what is sometimes called the ‘unemployment halo’ and thus go further in terms of the reality of full employment” , has continued. The “halo” refers to people who want to return to the labor market but who are not considered unemployed by the International Labor Office (ie, who are actually looking for work and are immediately available to accept it).
Asked about job creation, which is showing the first signs of decline, the minister announced the objective of “maintaining this trend and perhaps refuting certain forecasts” that are not very optimistic. He also recalled that the social agents should soon negotiate a new unemployment insurance agreement, since the current rules are subject to “a deadline of December 31, 2023.”
The law establishes a four-month negotiation period, preceded by a consultation on the government’s “framework letter” setting out the targets (including savings) to be achieved. Therefore, this letter should be sent “before the summer”, he stressed. The letter will respect the law, “which now establishes that the economic situation and the labor market are modulation criteria,” he also stressed, a point strongly contested by the unions. Since February 1, the duration of compensation for all jobseekers who open rights has been reduced by 25%.
Source: BFM TV
