In the second quarter of 2022, the number of unemployed people fell. According to its latest report published on Wednesday, July 27, Pôle emploi recorded a 0.8% drop in the number of category A unemployed people (without activity) compared to the previous quarter. That is 26,900 less registered. Compared to last year, the number of category A job seekers fell by 15.1%.
While welcoming these figures, the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt, nevertheless declared that he wanted to “go further”. In an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien, the former budget minister calls for “thinking about the next step”, believing that our compensation rules must also take into account the situation of the job market, such as Canada does, for example. “When things are going well, we tighten the rules and, when things are going badly, we relax them”, sums up the minister. “The higher the unemployment rate locally, the more generous the compensation,” he reports.
Indeed, in Canada, the registration of job seekers and their access to a number of days of compensation depends largely on the unemployment rate, not in the country, but in the region of residence. The higher the unemployment rate locally, the longer the compensation, and vice versa. Thus, in a region with an unemployment rate of less than 6%, you must have worked 700 hours during the reference period to be eligible for unemployment compensation. While in a region with an unemployment rate above 13%, it is enough to have worked 420 hours to be eligible.
According to a study by Unédic France, published in 2021, this method of calculating rights would allow a faster return to employment. In Canada, nearly 40% of job seekers remain unemployed for a month. While in France, 40% of registrants remain so for more than a year and a half.
In Canada, the amount of the allowance corresponds to 55% of the average weekly income subject to contributions, within the limit of the ceiling, set at 56,300 dollars per year.
As regards the methods of calculation, they also vary according to the regional unemployment rate. The lower the unemployment rate, the lower the benefit. Especially since in Canada, it is the “best weeks” of earnings that are taken into account. That is to say the weeks during which the remuneration is the highest of the reference period. Thus, in regions where the unemployment rate is above 13%, the calculation will be based on the best 14 weeks. On the other hand, in regions where the unemployment rate is below 6%, the calculation will be based on the best 22 weeks.
In his interview with Le Parisien, Olivier Dussopt also explains how this method of calculation, depending on the economic situation, could be implemented in France. “This evaluation will go either through criteria, such as a number of consecutive quarters with an improvement in employment, or through a committee which gives us an opinion. The terms have not been fixed.” Following a campaign promise from Emmanuel Macron, the minister also indicated that he wanted to set up consultations from the start of the school year with the social partners, for a new reform of unemployment insurance.
