France Travail (English: France Employment Agency), previously Pôle emploi (French pronunciation: [pol ɑ̃plwa]; English: Employment Centre), is a French governmental agency which registers unemployed people, helps them find jobs and provides them with financial aid.

The ASSEDIC (Association pour l'emploi dans l'industrie et le commerce) was created in 1958 to provide social benefits to unemployed people.

[citation needed] In December 2007, Christine Lagarde, Minister of the Economy, unveiled the law to the government.

However, the Unedic (or Unédic) remained in existence, but it became an independent agency managed by the "social partners" (trade unions and company representatives).

The merger was an electoral pledge of candidate Nicolas Sarkozy during the French presidential election of 2007.

France Travail collects workers' contributions to finance unemployment benefits, paid by salaries.

The statistics are legal rules: the Pole Emploi centers can accept people according to their availability and their activity.

According to the ILO definition, an unemployed person is a person of working age (i.e. aged 15 years or older) who does not work, not even one hour during the week, who is available to take a job within 15 days and who actively sought a job in the previous month.