Guest from Europe 1 Tuesday morning, Olivier Dussopt, Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts commented on the sharp rise in unemployment announced by INSEE.

"It's bad news, but it's not surprising."

INTERVIEW

The rise in unemployment in France is strong but "not surprising".

"This is bad news, but it reflects the drop in our activity at the start of the year and the crisis we are going through," said Olivier Dussopt, Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts, invited to Europe 1 on Tuesday morning.

The unemployment rate jumped 1.9 points in the third quarter of 2020 to stand at 9% of the working population in France (excluding Mayotte), according to figures released Tuesday by INSEE.

France has 2.7 million unemployed, or 628,000 more people over the quarter, between July and September. 

"The stark reality of the labor market"

This strong increase in the third quarter comes after a fall "in trompe-l'oeil" in the two previous quarters.

"This figure reflects the harsh reality of the labor market. We see both the increase in the number of unemployed and the upturn in activity recorded in summer", assures Olivier Dussopt.