France very long-term unemployed persons count (24+ months)
France very long-term unemployed persons count (24+ months) stood at 275 thousand persons in Q2 2026, according to Eurostat – labour market slack by sex and age, quarterly (lfsi_sla_q). It is one of the indicators in the Labour market indicators (Eurostat) table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q1 2021 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Labour market indicators (Eurostat) table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of persons | |||||||||||
| Very long-term unemployed (24 months or more) | 275 | 264 | 244 | 236 | 226 | 224 | 219 | 210 | 225 | 234 | |
| Long-term unemployed (12 months or more) | 657 | 628 | 597 | 584 | 549 | 528 | 552 | 529 | 541 | 546 |
Understanding france very long-term unemployed persons count (24+ months)
The subset of jobseekers enduring a continuous lack of work for twenty-four months or more forms the basis of this head count. It isolates individuals whose period without employment spans at least two full years, omitting those with shorter or more recently initiated spells of joblessness. This series provides a more concentrated view of structural detachment from the labor market than the broader twelve-month indicator.
Seasonal fluctuations have a muted impact on this extended duration category compared to short-term measures, yet structural shifts in active labor market policies can create breaks in the series. Early figures are subject to retroactive adjustments when administrative registries are fully reconciled. Analysts benefit from examining annual trends rather than quarter-to-quarter movements, which can be noisy due to sample rotation. Comparing this figure directly with total headline unemployment risks conflating short-term frictional churn with deeply entrenched structural hardship.
Frequently asked questions
- How does this series distinguish itself from general long-term unemployment measures?
- It applies a stricter duration threshold, requiring joblessness to have persisted for at least twenty-four consecutive months.
- Are preliminary counts of extremely prolonged joblessness revised frequently?
- Initial estimates often change as subsequent survey sweeps and administrative database reconciliations provide complete responses.
- What comparison method is most reliable for tracking this specific metric over time?
- Year-on-year evaluations offer a clearer view of underlying structural changes by avoiding seasonal administrative noise present in quarterly data.