Informations Rapides · 8 December 2021 · n° 317

In Q3 2021, payroll employment increased by 0.4 % Payroll employment - third quarter 2021

Between the end of June and the end of September 2021, payroll employment slowed down: +0.4% (+108,300 jobs) after +1.2% (+309,500 jobs) in Q2 2021 and +0.6% (+157,900 jobs) in Q1 2021. This inflection comes essentially from private payroll employment which increased by 0.5% (+95,200 jobs) after having strongly increased in the second quarter (+1.5%, or +285,300 jobs). In the public sector, employment also slowed down but more slightly: +0.2% (+13,000 jobs) after +0.4% (+24,200 jobs) in the previous quarter. Payroll employment exceeded its pre-crisis level (end 2019) by 1.0% in the private sector (+190,600 jobs) and by 1.2% in the public sector (+70,300). In total, payroll employment at the end of September 2021 was 1.0% above its end of 2019 level (+260,900 jobs).

In this publication, temporary workers are accounted for in the temporary employment within market services, whichever sector they carry out their assignment (industry, construction, market or non market services). In each of these sectors, a large part of the short-term adjustment to the crisis was initially made by a drop in the use of temporary staff in the first quarter of 2020 (–40.0% that is −314,700 jobs). Then temporary work rebounded sharply: +22.1%, +22.5% and +5.5% in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020 (a total of +272,600 jobs) and +3.1 in the first semester of 2021 (+23,400 jobs). In Q3 2021, temporary work increased again: +1.6% (+12,100 jobs). This dynamism over six consecutive quarters do not fully compensate for the historic drop in the first quarter of 2020: at the end of September 2021, temporary work remains 0.8% (−6,600 jobs) below its pre-crisis level (end of 2019).

Industrial employment (excluding temporary work) increased slightly again in Q3 2021: +0.1% as in the previous quarter (or +4,200 after +3,000 jobs). In this sector, employment is 1.3% below its pre-crisis level (i.e. -41,300 compared to the end of 2019).

In market services excluding temporary work, in Q3 2021, payroll employment slowed down: +0.8% (+92,100 jobs) after +2.2% in the previous quarter (+255,500 jobs). In particular, it jumped in business services (+1.0% or +26,600 jobs), in the other services activities (+1.9% or +25,200 jobs), in accommodation and food services (+1.8% or +20,100 jobs) and trade (+0.4% or +14,000 jobs). In total, at the end of September 2021, employment in the market services excluding temporary work exceeded its pre-crisis level (end 2019) by 1.1% (+128,900 jobs): it clearly exceeded it in information and communication, trade, business services and other services activities; it was almost at the same level in acommodation and foods services; finally, it remained below it in financial and insurance activities and real estate activities.

In construction, payroll employment decreased for the first time since the end of 2016 (excluding temporary work): -0.2% after +0.3% in the previous quarter (or -3,700 after +4,200 jobs). Nevertheless, it remained well above its pre-crisis level: +4.5% compared to the end of 2019 (+64,500 jobs).

In Q3 2021, payroll employment in the mainly non-market services sector slowed down: +0.1% (+5,600 jobs) after +0.4% (+28,900 jobs) in the previous quarter. Employment in this sector is well above its pre-crisis level (+1.5% compared to the end of 2019, i.e. +118,000 jobs), notably in the health sector (+3.9% or +61,800 jobs).

Compared to the employment estimate published on 8 September 2021, the increase in payroll employment (private and public) in the second quarter of 2021 is raised by 20,100 or 0.1 points. The revision comes mainly from market services (+20,800). Compared to the flash estimate published on 5 November 2021, the increase in payroll employment in the private sector alone in the third quarter of 2021 is practically unrevised (-900).