Europe 1 with AFP 4:49 p.m., May 25, 2022

According to figures from the Ministry of Labor published on Wednesday, the number of category A unemployed rose very slightly in April, with 9,300 more job seekers compared to March (+0.3%), to 3.179 million.

This is the first monthly increase since April 2021.

The number of category A unemployed rose very slightly in April, with 9,300 more job seekers than in March (+0.3%), to 3.179 million, according to figures from the Ministry of Labor published on Wednesday.

This is the first monthly increase since April 2021. But the Department of Statistics of the Ministry (Dares) does not comment on the monthly data, which is too volatile, favoring quarterly changes.

Latest quarterly results, however good

The latest quarterly results published at the end of April had shown a sharp drop of 5% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter, i.e. 170,000 fewer registered in category A, to 3.193 million on average over the three months.

Including reduced activity (categories B and C), the number of job seekers in France (excluding Mayotte) remained down 0.7% in April compared to March and stood at 5.456 million (-40,600 ), according to Dares.

In the first quarter, the decline was 2.7% to 5.533 million on average.

A drop in April which mainly concerned young people

Regarding the drop in unemployment in the latest quarterly results, Europe 1 indicated why this mainly concerned young people aged 25.

"We had a sharp rise during the Covid crisis, because many young people had delayed their entry into the labor market," explained Anne-Sophie Alsif, chief economist at BDO France.

"These young people are really benefiting from the strong global demand, first among graduates, through strong demand in the service and industrial sectors, therefore with permanent jobs that are created", she explained at the microphone of Europe 1.