Editing Economy of France (section)

==Labour market==
According to a 2011 report by the American [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] (BLS), France's GDP per capita at [[purchasing power parity]] is similar to that of the UK, with just over US$35,000 per head.<ref>{{cite web |title=International Comparisons of GDP per Capita, and per Hour, 1960–2011 |url=http://www.bls.gov/fls/intl_gdp_capita_gdp_hour.pdf |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |access-date=13 April 2014 |date=7 November 2012 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093949/http://www.bls.gov/fls/intl_gdp_capita_gdp_hour.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> To explain why French per capita GDP is lower than that of the United States, the economist [[Paul Krugman]] stated that "French workers are roughly as productive as US workers", but that the French have a ''lower workforce participation rate,'' and "when they work, they work fewer hours". According to Krugman, the difference is due to the French making "different choices about retirement and leisure".<ref name="Paul">{{cite news|title=GDP Per Capita, Here and There|url=https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/gdp-per-capita-here-and-there/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0|access-date=13 April 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 January 2011|author=Paul Krugman|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531064308/https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/gdp-per-capita-here-and-there/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Lyon Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Fourvière Esplanade du Site Tour Part-Dieu.jpg|thumb|[[La Part-Dieu]], [[Lyon]]'s central business district]]
France has long suffered a relatively high unemployment rate,<ref>Hélène Baudchon, [https://economic-research.bnpparibas.com/html/en-US/France-unemployment-deep-rooted-problem-2/27/2015,25413 France: unemployment, a deep-rooted problem]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521084945/https://economic-research.bnpparibas.com/html/en-US/France-unemployment-deep-rooted-problem-2/27/2015,25413|date=21 May 2021}}. [[BNP Paribas]]'s Economic Research department, February 2015.</ref> even during the years when its macroeconomic performances compared favourably with other advanced economies.<ref>Reza Moghadam, [https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF001/07949-9781451966589/07949-9781451966589/07949-9781451966589_A001.xml?language=en&redirect=true Why is Unemployment in France so High?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217135855/https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF001/07949-9781451966589/07949-9781451966589/07949-9781451966589_A001.xml?language=en&redirect=true |date=17 February 2021 }}, IMF eLibrary, May 1994</ref> French employment rates for the working age population is one of the lowest of the OECD countries: in 2020, only 64.4% of the French working age population were in employment, compared to 77% in Japan, 76.1% in Germany, 75.4% in the UK, but the French employment rate was higher than that of the US, which stood at 62.5%.<ref>{{cite web |author=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |year=2020 |url=http://data.oecd.org/emp/employment-rate.htm |title=OECD Employment rate |format=PDF |access-date=26 September 2020 |archive-date=23 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423125555/https://data.oecd.org/emp/employment-rate.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> This gap is due to the low employment rate for 15–24 years old: 38% in 2012, compared to 47% in the OECD.

Since his [[French presidential election 2017|election in 2017]], [[Emmanuel Macron]] has introduced several labour market reforms which proved successful in decreasing the unemployment rate before the global [[COVID-19 recession]] struck.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/europe/2020/02/20/emmanuel-macrons-reforms-are-working-but-not-for-him Emmanuel Macron's reforms are working, but not for him] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023042331/https://www.economist.com/europe/2020/02/20/emmanuel-macrons-reforms-are-working-but-not-for-him |date=23 October 2020 }}, [[The Economist]], 20 February 2020</ref> In late 2019, the French unemployment rate, though still high compared to other developed economies, was the lowest in a decade.<ref>Hannah Copeland, Valentina Romei, [https://www.ft.com/content/d97e480a-c99b-11e9-a1f4-3669401ba76f Macron's labour market changes begin to bear fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028213242/https://www.ft.com/content/d97e480a-c99b-11e9-a1f4-3669401ba76f |date=28 October 2020 }}, [[Financial Times]], October 2019</ref>

During the 2000s and 2010s, [[Classical liberalism|classical liberal]] and [[Keynesian economics|Keynesian economists]] sought out different solutions to the unemployment issue in France. Keynesian economists's theories led to the introduction of the [[35-hour workweek]] law in 1999. Between 2004 and 2008, the government attempted to combat unemployment with supply-side reforms, but was met with fierce resistance;<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/04/france.jobslaw/index.html |title=More than 1 million protest French jobs law |publisher=CNN |access-date=21 July 2011 |archive-date=30 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530180006/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/04/france.jobslaw/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the ''[[contrat nouvelle embauche]]'' and the ''[[First Employment Contract|contrat première embauche]]'' (which allowed more flexible contracts) were of particular concern, and both were eventually repealed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4816306.stm |title=Q&A: French labour law row |work=BBC News |date=11 April 2006 |access-date=21 July 2011 |archive-date=18 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618103651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4816306.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Sarkozy government used the ''[[revenu de solidarité active]]'' (in-work benefits) to redress the ''negative effect'' of the ''[[revenu minimum d'insertion]]'' (unemployment benefits which do not depend on previous contributions, unlike normal unemployment benefits in France) on the incentive to accept even jobs which are insufficient to earn a living.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rsa.gouv.fr/-English-version-.html |title=Le Revenu de Solidarité active |publisher=Rsa.gouv.fr |access-date=9 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717012046/http://www.rsa.gouv.fr/-English-version-.html |archive-date=17 July 2010 }}</ref> [[Neoliberal]] economists attribute the low employment rate, particularly evident among young people, to high [[minimum wage]]s that would prevent low productivity workers from easily entering the labour market.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Philippe Aghion|author=Philippe Aghion|first2=Gilbert|last2=Cette|first3=Élie|last3=Cohen|first4=Jean|last4=Pisani-Ferry|author-link4=Jean Pisani-Ferry|publisher=Conseil d'analyse économique|year=2007|url=http://www.cae.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/072.pdf|title=Les leviers de la croissance française|access-date=1 September 2008|page=55|isbn=978-2-11-006946-7|place=Paris|language=fr|archive-date=24 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224205530/http://www.cae.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/072.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

A December 2012 ''New York Times'' article reported on a "floating generation" in France that formed part of the 14 million unemployed young Europeans documented by the Eurofound research agency.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/world/europe/young-and-educated-in-france-find-employment-elusive.html|title=Young, Educated and Jobless in France|first=Steven|last=Erlanger|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 December 2012|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402112024/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/world/europe/young-and-educated-in-france-find-employment-elusive.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This ''floating generation'' was attributed to a dysfunctional system: "an elitist educational tradition that does not integrate graduates into the work force, a rigid labour market that is hard to enter for newcomers, and a tax system that makes it expensive for companies to hire full-time employees and both difficult and expensive to lay them off".<ref>{{cite news|title=Young, Educated and Jobless in France|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/world/europe/young-and-educated-in-france-find-employment-elusive.html?pagewanted=1|access-date=13 April 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 December 2012|author=Steven Erlanger|author2=Maïa de la Baume|author3=Stefania Rousselle|archive-date=17 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417104707/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/world/europe/young-and-educated-in-france-find-employment-elusive.html?pagewanted=1|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2013, the unemployment rate for France was 11%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=teilm020&tableSelection=1&plugin=1 |title=Harmonised unemployment rate by gender&nbsp;– total&nbsp;– % (SA) |publisher=Epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu |date=11 March 2011 |access-date=21 July 2011 |archive-date=1 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101202312/http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=teilm020&tableSelection=1&plugin=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In early April 2014, employers' federations and unions negotiated an agreement with technology and consultancy employers, as employees had been experiencing an extension of their work time through [[smartphone]] communication outside of official working hours. Under a new, legally binding labour agreement, around 250,000 employees will avoid handling work-related matters during their leisure time and their employers will, in turn, refrain from engaging with staff during this time.<ref>{{cite news|title=When the French clock off at 6&nbsp;pm, they really mean it|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/shortcuts/2014/apr/09/french-6pm-labour-agreement-work-emails-out-of-office?CMP=fb_gu|access-date=13 April 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=9 April 2014|author=Lucy Mangan|archive-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413132332/http://www.theguardian.com/money/shortcuts/2014/apr/09/french-6pm-labour-agreement-work-emails-out-of-office?CMP=fb_gu|url-status=live}}</ref>

Every day, about 80,000 French citizens commute to work in neighbouring [[Luxembourg]], making it the biggest cross-border workforce group in the whole of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Foreign labour in 2014|url=http://www.statistiques.public.lu/|publisher=Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques du Luxembourg|access-date=1 June 2015|archive-date=24 November 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041124084115/http://www.statistiques.public.lu/|url-status=live}}</ref> They are attracted by much higher wages for the different job groups than in their own country and the lack of skilled labour in the booming Luxembourgish economy.

The background of the 2023 [[2023 French pension reform law|pension reform]] was about 14% of GDP pension spending in France compared to OECD average of just over 9%. The aim of the pension reform was to reduce cost by increasing the minimum legal retirement age from 62 years to 64 years in 2030.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boulhol |first1=Hervé |last2=Queisser |first2=Monika |title=The 2023 France Pension Reform |url=https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2023/number/3/article/the-2023-france-pension-reform.html |pages=130–131 |language=en |date=2023|issue=3 }}</ref> In April 2023, president Emmanuel Macron signed the pension reforms into law.<ref>{{cite news |title=France pension reforms: Macron signs pension age rise to 64 into law |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65279818 |date=14 April 2023}}</ref>