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Objectives: To prospectively examine the association between the duration of unemployment among job seekers and changes in alcohol use in a year., Design: A prospective study., Setting: French population-based CONSTANCES cohort., Participants: We selected 84 943 participants from the CONSTANCES cohort included between 2012 and 2019 who, at baseline and 1-year follow-up, were either employed or job-seeking., Outcome Measures: Multinomial logistic regression models computed the odds of reporting continuous no alcohol use, at-risk alcohol use, increased or decreased alcohol use compared with being continuously at low risk and according to employment status. The duration of unemployment was self-reported at baseline; thus, the employment status at 1-year follow-up was categorised as follows: (1) employed, (2) return to employment since less than a year, (3) unemployed for less than 1 year, (4) unemployed for 1 to 3 years and (5) unemployed for 3 years or more. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, education, household monthly income, marital status, self-rated health, smoking status and depressive state., Results: Compared with being continuously at low risk (ie, ≤10 drinks per week), the unemployment categories were associated in a dose-dependent manner with an increased likelihood of reporting continuous no alcohol use (OR: 1.74-2.50), being continuously at-risk (OR: 1.21-1.83), experiencing an increase in alcohol use (OR: 1.21-1.51) and a decrease in alcohol use (OR: 1.17-1.84)., Conclusion: Although our results suggested an association between the duration of unemployment and a decrease in alcohol use, they also revealed associations between at-risk and increased alcohol use. Thus, screening for alcohol use among unemployed job seekers must be reinforced, especially among those with long-term unemployment., Competing Interests: Competing interests: GA has received speakers and/or consulting fees from Pfizer, Lundbeck and Pierre Fabre. However, these entities did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. REH, PM, MM, EW and MZ report no conflicts of interest., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)