Journal article: We draw a parallel between changes in the French labour market and the evolution of its study by public statistics and labour economists. Labour economics has taken a significant turn toward empirical analysis based on recent microeconometric developments in the evaluation of public policies. This turn has not been sufficient to make decisive progress in the fight against unemployment or inequalities in the labour market. This begs the question of the difficulties faced by labour economics and the associated statistical approaches to apprehend a moving context, and perhaps also of the insufficient dialogue with public decision makers.