8 December 2020

2020- n° 313

In Q3 2020, payroll employment rebounded in the private sector and in the public service, whithout returning to pre-crisis levels Payroll employment - third quarter 2020

Between the end of June and the end of September 2020, payroll employment rebounded by 1.6%, that is 401,100 net job creations after –2,7% (–697,100 jobs) in the first semester. At the end of Septembre 2020, it thus remained below its pre-crisis level at the end of 2019 (–295,900, or –1.2%), but returned to a level comparable to the end of 2018. The rebound over the quarter concerns both the private sector (+312,400 net creations, or +1.6%) and the public service (+88,700 jobs, or +1.5%). Over one year, employment declined in the private sector (–234,300 jobs or –1.2%) but increased in the public service (+27,000 jobs or +0.5%).

In the so-called «non-agricultural market sectors» field (industry, construction and market services), payroll employment has been measured in quaterly time series since the end of 1970. In the third quarter of 2020, it increased by 1.7% after –3.5% in the first semester of 2020. This is the highest quarterly increase recorded in this series.

Temporary employment had fallen by an unprecedented 40.4% in the first quarter (–318,000 jobs). In this publication, temporary workers are accounted for within market services, whichever sector they carry out their assignment (industry, construction, market or non-market services). In each of these sectors, however, a large part of the short-term adjustment to the crisis was initially made in the first quarter through the drop in recourse to temporary work. In the second and third quarters of 2020, temporary employment increased sharply: +22.9% then +22.8% (i.e. +107,800 then +131,600 jobs). It nevertheless remains below its level of the previous year: –10.3%, or 81,100 job losses over one year.

In the third quarter of 2020, payroll employment excluding temporary workers rebounded (+1.1% or +269,600) after two quarters of sharp decline. It nevertheless remains below its level at the end of 2019 (–217,300).

Industrial employment excluding temporary workers fell by 0.2% (–7,500 jobs) after –1.2% in the first semester (–36,600 jobs). Over one year, employment in this sector fell by 1.4%, representing 43,700 net job losses.

In construction, payroll employment excluding temporary workers increaesed sharply: +1.3% after almost stability in the first semester. Over one year, employment has risen sharply: +2.1% or +30,200 jobs.

In market services excluding temporary workers, payroll employment rebounded strongly: +1.3% or +146,100 jobs, after a 3.0% drop in the first semester (–356,000 jobs). This quarter's increase thus compensates for less than half of the job losses since the start of the health crisis, and employment in market services excluding temporary employment reached a level comparable to the end of 2018. Over a year, remains down by 1,2% that is –138,600 jobs. The rebound in the third quarter mainly concerns accommodation and food services (+5.2%, or +53,100 jobs) and the "other services to households" (+3.4%, or +42,100 jobs). Employment in these two sectors had fallen particularly sharply in the first half of the year and remains well below its pre-crisis level.

Payroll employment in mainly non-market services rebounded by 1.4% in the third quarter of 2020, representing 112,800 net job creations, after a 1.1% drop in the first half of the year (–85,000 jobs). This rebound mainly came from public employment, which increased by 1.5% (+88,700), more than offsetting its fall in the first half of the year (–1.1% or –63,400).

Compared to the employment estimate published on 8 September 2020, the fall in payroll employment (private and public) in the second quarter of 2020 is slightly attenuated (revised by +11,000 to –204,200).

Compared to the flash estimate published on 6 November 2020, the rise in payroll employment (in the private sector) in Q3 2020 has been reduced by 32,000, (–0.2 points), to +312,400. This revision is especially due to market services excluding temporary employment.