Informations Rapides · 28 February 2025 · n° 57

In Q4 2024, payroll employment fell back (-0.3%) Payroll employment - fourth quarter 2024

In Q4 2024, payroll employment fell back by 0.3% (that is -90,100 net job creations) after +0.1% in the previous quarter (that is +35,600 jobs). It stood at its level from a year ago (that is +6,900 jobs) and exceeded its pre-sanitary crisis level (end of 2019) by 4.9%, that is 1.3 million additional jobs.

In Q4 2024, private payroll employment decreased (-0.3% that is -68,000 jobs) after a virtual stability in the previous quarter (+0.1% that is +16,800 jobs). It was below its Q4 2023 level by 0.1% (that is -25,200 jobs) and exceeded its pre-sanitary crisis level by 5.5% (that is +1.1 million jobs). Public payroll employment decreased in Q4 2024 by 0.4% (that is -22,100 jobs) after eight consecutive quarters of increases. It topped his previous year level by 0.5% (that is +32,100 jobs) and its Q4 2019 level by 3.0% (that is +0,2 million jobs).

In Q4 2024, temporary employment decreased again and more sharply than in the previous quarter: -2.3% after -0.8% (that is -17,100 jobs after -5,700 jobs). Temporary employment was below its Q4 2023 level by 6.0% (that is -45,600 jobs) and 8.3% below its pre-sanitary crisis level (that is -64,100 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).

In Q4 2024, payroll employment in agriculture was virtually stable (+0.1%) over a quarter (that is +400 jobs), and was almost at its level from a year ago (+0,1%).

Industrial payroll employment (excluding temporary work) was also virtually stable in Q4 2024 (-0.1% that is -2,800 jobs). It exceeded by 0.3% its Q4 2023 level and its pre-sanitary crisis level by 2.6%.

In construction, payroll employment (excluding temporary work) decreased for the eighth consecutive quarter: -0.6%, after a decrease of -0.2% in Q3 2024 (that is -9,600 jobs after -2,700 jobs). It was below it Q4 2023 level by 1.8% but still remained well above its pre-sanitary crisis level (+4.6%).

In Q4 2024, payroll employment in market services (excluding temporary work) fell back for the first time since Q2 2013 (excluding 2020): -0.2% after +0.1% in the previous quarter (that is -25,300 jobs after +12,200 jobs). It exceeded its Q4 2023 level by 0.2% (that is +29,300 jobs) and its pre-sanitary crisis level by 7.3% (that is +0.9 million jobs). In market services, excluding temporary work, payroll employment decreased sharply in professional, scientific and technical activities (that is -14,600 jobs excluding temporary work) and, to a lesser extent, in information and communication (that is -8,200 jobs).

Payroll employment in non-market services fell back sharply by -0.4% in Q4 2024 after +0.3% in the previous quarter (that is -35,500 after +29,500 jobs). The decrease concerned both its public (-22,300 jobs) and private (-13,200 jobs) components. It topped its Q4 2023 level by 0.5% (that is +41,900 jobs) and its pre-sanitary crisis level by 3,6% (that is +0.3 million jobs).

In Q4 2024, private payroll employment kept rising sharply among people aged 55 years old and more: over a year, it rose by 2.8% (that is +104,500 jobs). In contrast, private payroll employment for people aged less than 30 years old declined (-0.5% over a year), as did that of people aged 30-54 years old (-0.9%).The respective trends for women and men were very similar over the quarter and over the year.

In the private sector, permanent contracts fell back slightly in Q4 2024, remaining above their Q3 2024 level (+0,4% that is +61,300 jobs) and their pre-sanitary crisis level (that is +0,9 million jobs). The number of fixed-term jobs (excluding work-study contracts) fell back slightly over the quarter and over a year, as did temporary work. Finally, work-study contracts rebounded slightly at the end of 2024 but remained clearly above its Q4 2023 level (+1.4%, that is+14,800 jobs), and very sharply above its pre-sanitary crisis level (+61,8% that is +0,4 million jobs).

Compared to the employment detailed estimate published on 29 November 2024, the quarterly change in payroll employment (private and public) in Q3 2024 has been revised downwards by 13,100 jobs and its relative evolution downwards by 0.1 points. These revision is mainly visible in agriculture (-6,700 jobs) and mainly due to the inclusion of late declarations of seasonal contracts fewer than initially planned in this sector.

Compared to the flash estimate published on 7 February 2025, the payroll employment in the private sector alone in Q4 2024 has been revised downwards by 17,900 jobs, with its relative evolution revised downwards by 0.1 points. This revision is mainly due to a greater decrease in employment than initially estimated in private payroll employment in market services.