French unemployment rate rises to 8.1%, highest since 2021
PARIS - France's unemployment rate rose to 8.1% in the first quarter of 2026, its highest since 2021, the INSEE statistics agency reported on Wednesday, though it was still lower than its peak in 2015.
The number of unemployed people in France rose by 68,000 from the previous quarter to 2.6 million, INSEE said.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 11:42 PM.