Informations Rapides · 5 November 2021 · n° 289

In Q3 2021, private payroll employment increased by 0.5 % (flash estimate) Flash estimate of payroll employment - third quarter 2021

Between the end of June and the end of September 2021, private payroll employment increased again: +0.5%, or +96,100 net job creations. This is the third successive quarterly increase after +0.8% and +1.4% in the first and second quarters of 2021 (that is +153,800 and +265,100 jobs). In total, at the end of September 2021, private payroll employment exceeds its pre-crisis level (that of the end of 2019) by 0.9% (that is +185,600 jobs).

In Q3 2021, temporary employment increased again: +1.4% after +2.4% in the second quarter and +0.7% in the first (that is +11,200 after +17,900 and +5,200 jobs). These increases are much more moderate than those of the previous quarters (+22.1%, +22.6% and +5.5% in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, i.e. a total of +273,700 jobs). In total, the increase over six consecutive  quarters do not fully compensate for the historic drop in the first quarter of 2020 (−40.1% that is −315,900 jobs). Temporary employment thus remains slightly below its pre-crisis level: at the end of September 2021, it is 1.0% below its end of 2019 level (that is −7,800 jobs).

Excluding temporary work, private payroll employment increased by 0.4% in the third quarter of 2021 (+85,000 jobs). As a reminder, in this publication temporary workers are accounted for in the temporary employment sector which pays them (within market services), whichever sector they carry out their assignment (industry, construction, market or non market services).

Industrial employment (excluding temporary work) increased slightly again in the third quarter of 2021, for the third consecutive time: +0.1% in the third quarter of 2021, as in the second quarter, after +0.2% in the first quarter (that is +4,600 after +2,600 and +5,300 jobs). However, it had fallen by 1.9% over the whole year of 2020 (−57,700 jobs). At the end of September, industrial employment thus remains significantly below its pre-crisis level: −1.4% compared to the end of 2019 (that is −45,100 jobs).

In non temporary market services, private payroll employment slowed down after an exceptional jump in the previous quarter: +0.7% after +2.0% (or +86,400 after +228,800 jobs). Since March 2020, this sector has been heavily affected by the health restrictions, with a 2.4% drop over the whole of 2020 (or −287,500 jobs). At the end of September 2021, employment in this sector  exceeded by 1.0% its end of 2019 level (or +117,900 jobs).

In construction, private payroll employment (excluding temporary work) almost stabilised in the third quarter of 2021 (−0.1% or −1,900 jobs) after five quarters of consecutive increases. These increases enabled the sector to return to its pre-crisis level as soon as June 2020 and then to exceed it by a wide margin: at the end of September 2021 it was 4.4% higher than its end of 2019 level (+62,700 jobs).

Similarly, in the third quarter of 2021, private payroll employment in non market services stabilised (0.0% or +700 jobs) after four quarters of successive increases : +3.5% over one year between mid-2020 and mid-2021 that is +86,600 jobs nets creations. It exceeded by 2.4 % its end of 2019 level (+58,900).