France

1.Series

Title:

Job-seekers.

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

Agence nationale pour l’Emploi - ANPE (National Employment Agency).

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

Ministry of Social Affairs, Employment and Solidarity.

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

741 local agencies throughout the country.

Type of services provided/administered by the agency:

  • Assisting job-seekers to find jobs;
  • Assisting job-seekers to establish their own business;
  • Assisting employers to find workers;
  • Vocational guidance;
  • Assisting employees to find another job.

    Percentage of job seekers seeking work through the agency:

    100%.

    3.The following information is registered about a person:

  • Name;
  • Sex;
  • Address of usual residence;
  • Date of birth;
  • Nationality;
  • Educational/vocational attainment, with 152 categories distinguished. Links to ISCED have not been established;
  • Type of business or workplace of present or previous employer, with 75 categories distinguished;
  • Previous registrations with the agency;
  • Other: category (see point six); qualifications; handicap.

    4.Criteria used for inclusion of a person in the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Any person, who so wishes, may be registered with the ANPE (including employed persons). Depending on his/her situation in respect to the following criteria (being without work, looking for a job, availability for work, being employed), he/she will be allocated to a particular register (8 categories, see under paragraph 6 below the different definitions). Registration is mandatory for job-seekers receiving indemnities.
  • Age: Lower limit: 16 years (R) and (S);
  • Being resident in the country (R) and (S);
  • Desired duration of employment and/or number of hours of work sought: if the person is seeking part-time employment, he/she will be classified in categories 2 or 7.

    5.Criteria used for exclusion of a person from the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Death (R) and (S);
  • Taking up residency abroad (R) and (S);
  • Commencement of a (new) job, depending on the case: if the person is classified in categories 5, 6, 7 or 8, it is possible to combine a reduced activity and registration with the ANPE;
  • Commencement of military service (R) and (S);
  • Failure to contact the agency/service (R) and (S);
  • Refusal of suitable job offers (R) and (S);
  • Refusal of suitable training offers (R) and (S);
  • False declaration (R) and (S);
  • Inability to work (R) and (S).

    6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

    Category 1:

    Unemployed persons, immediately available for work according to Article R.311-3-3, required to actively look for employment, looking for full-time employment of unspecified duration.

    These persons should not have carried out any casual activity or a reduced activity of more than 78 hours during the month in question.

    Category 2:

    Unemployed persons, immediately available for work according to Article R.311-3-3, required to actively look for employment, looking for part-time employment of unspecified duration.

    These persons should not have carried out any casual activity or a reduced activity of more than 78 hours during the month in question.

    Category 3:

    Unemployed persons, immediately available for work according to Article R.311-3-3, required to actively look for employment, looking for temporary or seasonal employment of specified duration, including very brief duration.

    These persons should not have carried out any casual activity or a reduced activity of more than 78 hours during the month in question.

    Category 4:

    Unemployed persons, not immediately available for work, looking for employment.

    Category 5:

    Employed persons, looking for another job.

    Category 6:

    Persons not immediately available for work according to Article R.311-3-3 (1), required to actively look for employment, looking for another job, full-time of unspecified duration.

    These persons will have carried out a casual or reduced activity of more than 78 hours during the month in question.

    Category 7:

    Persons not immediately available for work according to Article R.311-3-3 (1), required to actively look for employment, looking for another job, part-time of unspecified duration.

    These persons will have carried out a casual or reduced activity of more than 78 hours during the month in question.

    Category 8:

    Persons not immediately available for work according to Article R.311-3-3 (1), required to actively look for employment, looking for another job, temporary or seasonal of specified duration, including very short duration. These persons will have carried out a casual or reduced activity of more than 78 hours during the month in question.

    7.Updating of the registers

    The registers are updated monthly.

    8.Unemployment rates

    Unemployment rates are calculated monthly by the INSEE (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - National Institute of Statistics and Economical Studies), being the ratio of unemployed persons, according to the definition of the ILO, to the total economically active population.

    The number of unemployed persons, according to the ILO definition, is established once a year on the basis of the labour force survey conducted by the INSEE; for the intermediary months, rates are estimated on a parametric model based on the evolution of the number of persons seeking employment registered with the ANPE. in categories 1, 2 and 3.

    The economically active population is the sum of: total employment and unemployment.

    The population census is the basis of the evaluation of total employment, the labour force survey and other sources allow an annual re-evaluation.

    9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

    Reference period:

    Month.

    Frequency of production:

    Monthly.

    Descriptive variables used:

  • Sex;
  • Age;
  • Educational level;
  • Occupation;
  • Geographic characteristics;
  • Nationality;
  • Duration of unemployment;
  • Other: qualifications and handicap.

    Form of publication:

  • For internal use only (special publication for the ANPE. network);
  • On paper, for general audience, on request;
  • Machine-readable form, on request;
  • On a website:
  • http://www.travail.gouv.fr/etudes/etudes_i.html.

    Agency responsible for publication:

    Ministry of Social Affairs, Employment and Solidarity.

    Title and periodicity of the publication:

    Premières informations (First information).

    10.Methodological information about the statistics

    Form of release:

    In machine-readable form, on request.

    Agency responsible:

    Ministry of Social Affairs, Employment and Solidarity in respect of the number of persons registered with the ANPE; INSEE in respect of the "ILO unemployed".

    11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

    Comparisons have been made with unemployment statistics from the labour force survey and the population census.

    Publication of the methodology/results of the comparisons:

    These are available on the following website:

    http://www.insee.fr/fr/indic/indic_conj/donnees/chomrev.pdf.

    12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

    There have been no major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures which had a significant influence on the statistics; however, there was a reform of the categories in 1995.