Informations Rapides · 9 March 2023 · n° 62

In Q4 2022, payroll employment increased by 0.2% Payroll employment - fourth quarter 2022

In Q4 2022, payroll employment slightly increased by 0.2% (+44,000 jobs). It has slowed down gradually since the beginning of the year: +0.4% in Q1 (+109,300 jobs) and Q2 2022 (+99,700 jobs) then +0.3% in Q3 2022 (+84,100 jobs). It has grown for the eighth consecutive quarter, since the end of 2020. In Q4 2022, payroll employment was sharply above its 2021 level (+1.3% that is +337,100 jobs) and exceeded it pre-sanitary level by 4.5%, at the end of 2019, that is nearly 1.2 million of additional jobs, which one out of three is an apprenticeship contract.

The increase in Q4 2022 was mainly due to a rise in private payroll employment, which grew by 0.2% (+44,400 jobs), that is nearly half of the increase in Q3 2022 (+0.4% or +87,600 jobs). At the end of 2022, private payroll employment was above its Q4 2019 level by 5.6% (that is +1.1 million jobs). Public payroll employment was stable in Q4 2022 after a near stability in the previous quarter (-0.1%). It topped his Q4 2019 level by 0.9% (that is +55,100 jobs).

In Q4 2022, temporary employment increased: +1.1% (+8,600 jobs), after +1.5% in the previous quarter (+11,700 jobs). Temporary employment superseded its end 2019 level (+4.7%) but was below its Q4 2021 level (-1.2% that is -10,000 jobs).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 (agriculture, industry, construction, market or non market services).

Excluding temporary work, private payroll slowed down significantly in market services in Q4 2022: +0.1% (+17,400 jobs), after +0.5% in Q3 2022 (+58,000 jobs). It topped its Q4 2021 level by 2.2% (that is +272,200 jobs). In market services, excluding temporary work, payroll employment slowed down in nearly all sector except accommodation and food service activities (+0.8% after +0.2%).

Moreover, industrial payroll employment (excluding temporary work) slowed down slightly in the fourth quarter of 2022: +0.2% (+7,600 jobs) after +0.4% in Q3 2022 (+14,100 jobs). It exceeded by 1.2% his Q4 2021 level and by 1.6% its pre-sanitary crisis level. In the construction sector, payroll employment was stable in Q4 2022 after a slight growth in the previous quarter (+0.2%). It topped its Q4 2021 level by 0.7% and its pre-sanitary crisis level by 7.8%.

Nevertheless, in the fourth quarter of 2022, payroll employment in non-market services remained stable. It hardly exceeded its previous year level by +0.3%.

Finally, payroll employment in the agriculture rose by 2.8% in Q4 2022 (or +8,700 jobs), after a stability in Q3 2022 and a decrease in Q2 2022 (-3.2%). Over a year, payroll employment in the agriculture slightly rose (+1.4%).

Compared to the employment estimate published on 13 December 2022, the increase in payroll employment (private and public) in the third quarter of 2022 is lessen by 19,100 jobs and its relative evolution by 0.1 points, to +0.3%. The revisions comes mainly from market services excluding temporary work (-27,300 jobs) and are due to the updating of the coefficients of seasonal variations.

Compared to the flash estimate published on 8 February 2023, the increase in payroll employment in the private sector alone in the fourth quarter of 2022 has been increased by 41,400 jobs, resulting in a revision of +0.2 points in the evolution (+0.2% instead of 0.0%). This revision comes mainly from the market service sector excluding temporary work (+29,200 jobs).