After the "heat blow" of August, unemployment takes again its fall. And in notable proportions. In September, the rate of unemployment went down to 8,8 %, thus losing 0,2 point compared to the previous month. Such a figure had not been reached any more since October 2001. With 30 400 less unemployed, the number of applicants for work represents from now on 2 129 300 people. Since February 2005, there are thus 344 700 unemployed who found work.



The unemployment of the young people moves back 0,4 %, which carries to 11,5 % this category over one year. However, the unemployment of long duration records rather exceptional results.The unemployment of more than three years moves back to 2 %.

It has been the best fall sequence of the unemployment rate for five years. The fall of September is very visual, but one should not grant too much importance to it. On the other hand, when one observes the evolutions over one quarter, France is on a trend to 60 000 to 80 000 less unemployed. In short, the good September figures do not mark an acceleration of the unemployment, but confirm the downward trend. If it continues at this rate over the two next quarters, the number of unemployed could even go down under the 2 million people level, a symbolic advantage which would mark the spirits in the presidential campaign. This course is in any case the "new border" which the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin had stated at the beginning of September in Troyes at the time of his press conference.

He particularly recalled the two principal engines of lowering the employment, according to him. Initially the dynamization of the key sectors which are construction, housing and the services. Then the transformation of the French administrative system of employment management into a system of human resource management. Over all the duration of the social cohesion plan, he said France will do better than to reduce the unemployment of 3 % as was initially envisaged, but it will still be far from the best performance. In particular, in spite of good results in some places, in sensitive districts unemployment remains largely above the national average.