The French equivalent of Unemployment is: Chômage. It is pronounced: “Show-Mah-Je”.
The unemployment numbers and rates reported by the French government are conform to the guidelines of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which defines unemployment as the percentage of unemployed people in the total labor force (or active population). According to its Web site, the ILO considers all individuals of at least 15 years of age to be part of the labor force, under the following conditions:
- At the time of the study, the individuals were without employment (out of work)
- Individuals are available start a new job within 15 days
- Individuals have actively looked for a job in the last 30 days or have found a job starting in less than 90 days.
Unemployment in France
Over the last 10 years, quarterly unemployment levels in France have fluctuated between 7.5% and 10.8% of the active population. Unfortunately, in 2008 and 2009, France saw a drastic raise of unemployment, directly connected to the global economic crisis. Although France’s unemployment rate is the same for both men and women, the distribution across age groups is unbalanced. According the INSEE, the 15-24 age bracket carries most of the weight with close to 24% unemployment, while the 25-49 and 50+ age groups recorded 8% and 6% unemployment rates for 2009, respectively.
Unemployment in the US
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US unemployment rate has fluctuated between 3.8% and 10.1% of the active population. Now the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics’ definition of unemployed varies slightly from the ILO: it only considers individuals of at least 16 years of age to be part of the labor force. Like France, the US was severely impacted by the global economic meltdown and saw its unemployment rate exceed 10% in 2009.
Natural Rate of Unemployment
Also known as structural unemployment, it is the result of the friction between the positions companies are looking to fill and the types of jobs unemployed individuals are willing to accept at a given salary. France’s natural rate of unemployment has historically been around 10%, while the US has been at around 5%.
What are the opportunities? Weather local or national, high unemployment rates are always a reflection of bad economic cycles. But, they also represent opportunities for employers looking to acquire talent that was out of reach during the economic boom. What other opportunities do you see when your local economy is facing high unemployment? How would you anticipate the turn around?