PARIS, Nov 15 — France’s unemployment rate edged up faster than expected to 7.4 per cent in the third quarter, according to official statistics published today.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 7.3 per cent for the quarter, against an unrevised 7.2 per cent level in the second quarter.

That 7.4 per cent level, which represents 2.3 million persons, is the highest since the second quarter of 2022.

The INSEE statistics office said the youth unemployment rose by 0.7 percentage points in the third quarter to 17.6.

Long-term unemployment, meanwhile, remained unchanged at 1.8 per cent of the active workforce, its lowest level since early 2009 — excluding the second quarter of 2020 when data was skewed because of the first Covid lockdown that prevented people from registering as seeking employment.

Yesterday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) said its unemployment rate remained stable at 4.8 per cent in September 2023. — Reuters