Informations Rapides · 25 March 2025 · n° 78

In Q4 2024, payroll employment fell in almost all regions Localized employment and unemployment rates (by region and department) - fourth quarter 2024

Between the end of September 2024 and the end of December 2024, payroll employment in France as a whole (excluding Mayotte) fell by 0.3% after +0.1% in the third quarter of 2024.

In Q4 2024, at regional level, payroll employment declined more than at national level in Île-de-France, in the two regions of the North-East quarter (Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) and in Occitanie. With the exception of Corse, where it remained stable, payroll employment fell by 0.2% or 0.3% in the other regions of metropolitan France. It was also down in Martinique, almost stable in La Réunion, and up by 0.2% in Guadeloupe and 0.6% in Guyane.

At the departmental level, payroll employment was down, by between 0.4% and 0.6% in 37 departments, and by 0.6% or more in 11 departments, notably in the Ardennes (‑0.9%) and the Gers (‑1.0%). It was up by between 0.2% and 0.6% in only seven departments, five of which are in metropolitan France: Hautes-Alpes (+0.6%), Savoie and Corrèze (+0.3%) and Lot and Charentes-Maritimes (+0.2%).

At the national level, in Q4 2024, total payroll employment was stable compared to the Q4 2023, whereas it had risen by 0.6% between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023.

Payroll employment was above its level of one year earlier (by at least 0.2%) in almost half of the regions, particularly in the French overseas regions, with increases ranging from 0.4% in La Réunion to 1.7% in Guyane. Among the overseas regions, Martinique was an exception, with the sharpest decline in France (-0.7%). In metropolitan France, payroll employment rose year on year in the regions of the Mediterranean basin, in Bretagne and in Île-de-France.

Among the regions where payroll employment increased over one year faster than the national average (+0.0%), Bretagne and Île-de-France stood out for increases or near stability in all their departments. In Bretagne, the increase ranged from 0.2% in Ille-et-Vilaine and Côtes-d'Armor, to 0.6% in Finistère. In Île-de-France, payroll employment rose sharply in Val-d'Oise (+0.8%) and Seine-Saint-Denis (+1.0%), which was the second metropolitan department with the highest increase in employment, behind Hautes-Alpes (+1.9%). Conversely, payroll employment fell in the departments along a diagonal stretching from the north of Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the Grand Est. Payroll employment was down in all departments in the Grand Est, Bourgogne, Franche-Comté and Centre-Val de Loire, with the exception of Marne (+0.5%), Côte-d'Or (+0.4%), Eure-et-Loire (+0.3%) and Indre-et-Loire (+0.6%).

At departmental level, payroll employment fell the most sharply in the Ardennes (‑1.7%), Charente and Haute-Marne (‑1.8%).

In Q4 2024, nationwide (excluding Mayotte), the ILO unemployment was almost stable (‑0.1 points) compared with the previous quarter, to 7.3% of the labour force. Over one year, it was 0.2 points lower than its precedent level.

Between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, the unemployment rate was almost stable (between ‑0.1 points and +0.1 points included) in five regions, it declined in eleven regions, and increased in Martinique (+3.3 points). The decline was by 0.2 or 0.3 points in six regions, it was more pronounced in five regions: in Guyane (‑1.3 points), La Réunion (‑1.9 points) and Guadeloupe (‑3.5 points), in Hauts-de-France (‑0.6 points) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (‑0.4 points).

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate was higher than or equal to the national level (7.3%) in three regions in metropolitan France: Hauts-de-France and Occitanie (8.7%), and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (7.7%). In the French overseas regions, it was significantly higher, with rates ranging from 13.5% in Martinique to 16.8% in La Réunion. Conversely, the unemployment rate was the lowest in Pays de la Loire and Bretagne (5.9%). In these two regions, unemployment rates were lower than the national average in all departments. Situations within a region can be much more contrasted, for example in Île-de-France or Occitanie. In Île-de-France, where the unemployment rate measured over the whole region is lower than the national level (7.0%), it was lower in Paris (5.7%) and Hauts-de-Seine (6.1%) and conversely higher in Seine-Saint-Denis (10.2%). The contrast was even stronger in Occitanie, between Lozère, which was the department with the second lowest unemployment rate in France (4.6%) and Pyrénées-Orientales, where the rate is the highest in metropolitan France (12.1%).