The French Republic tolerates end of each month a sprained principle of indivisibility. In the mouths of politicians as in the writings of the media – including L’Express – a phrase in a loop: unemployment “in France.” A time to scrutinize the lists of registered employment center, those of overseas departments (DOM), not to mention communities (COM) are driven from most commented figures. The statistics for December, released Wednesday night, did not depart from this unspoken rule. The official press release announces a 0.4% increase … in France only.
These monthly data, in which observers seeking clues to a possible reversal of the unemployment curve, are established by the management of the Ministry of Labour Statistics (DARES) from the employment center files . Invariably, the first figure put forward, one that will be taken everywhere, relates only to the situation in France. The number of unemployed “entire France” or “DOM inclusive”, with French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion but Mayotte, appears only later. And if the figures for the city are subject to some level of analysis – the number of unemployed by sex and age, output analysis lists for reasons, for example – there is nothing for ‘overseas.
An unemployment too loud?
This selective highlighting can have a political interest. Overseas overshadow some relief the plight of Ministers of Labour, as unemployment is historically very high, about twice the national average. “These territories are all small economies, with offers of jobs inevitably limited, despite continued strong demographics, notes Olivier Sudrie, economist from overseas at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Most graduates migrate in metropolitan France and those who remain often have a low level of qualification. ”
In December the number of unemployed in Class A was 3.59 million in France, while in the overseas departments taking into account, it peaked at 3.85 million. The previous month, however, Myriam El Khomri would have done better to praise the decline of job seekers throughout France – 17 500 including DOM – rather than the 15 000 Hexagon alone …
Contacted by The Express, DARES justifies the traditional distinction between metropolitan France and overseas by “the lack of territorial contiguity” between the two, originally “very significant differences that are reflected in the figures.” It explains why the other hand the data for France are included as a priority in its publications.
not always equal measuring tools
When it comes to measuring unemployment, the overseas departments have long suffered “a lack of measuring instruments” recalls Olivier Sudrie. Economists are primarily interested in the INSEE data, which measures the rate of job seekers as defined by the International Labour Office (ILO), from a continuous survey of a sample of the population. But there too, metropolis and overseas are not quite equal. For the first, this rate is estimated quarterly and annual average since 2003. This investigation has long been conducted once a year in the overseas departments, with a single publication in the spring.
The study became Quarterly – from questionnaires “continuously” – in 2014, but the annual publication remains, for lack of sufficient perspective to correct seasonal variations. In order to estimate the unemployment rate “entire France” each quarter, INSEE estimated its magnitude in the DOM using data on job seekers registered at employment center at month end.
Ultimately, these inequalities between mainland France and overseas departments “could be set to disappear,” Olivier Sudrie tip. A law enacted in October provides that any public statistics broken down at the local level will now include data on DOM, COM and New Caledonia. But no text has planned to prevent those that comment on to ignore them …
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