French unemployment: a transatlantic perspective

The paper compares the French and US labour markets. It shows that differences in unemployment rates are especially acute for young and old workers, but appear to be negligible for middle-aged workers. All French workers, however, experience job flows that are quite distinct from their American counterparts as they are exposed to long spells of infrequent unemployment, which is the opposite to the US case. Critical differences across ages and skills regarding the patterns of exit from and entry into employment are also displayed. The paper dispels the view that these differences originate from the behaviour of the unemployed (or the set of institutions that guide their decisions), and that this is new to the French labour market.