Informations Rapides · 7 May 2025 · n° 115

In Q1 2025, private payroll employment was stable  Flash estimate of payroll employment - first quarter 2025

Between the end of December 2024 and the end of March 2025, private payroll employment was stable (0.0% that is +9,400 jobs), after a decrease in the previous quarter (-0.3% that is -68,000 jobs). Private payroll employment was below its Q1 2024 level (-0.3% that is -69,900 jobs). It far exceeded its pre-pandemic level (end of Q4 2019) by +5.5% (that is +1.1 million jobs).

In Q1 2025, temporary employment decreased again, but less sharply than in the previous quarter: -0.3% after -2.3% in the previous quarter (that is -1,900 jobs after -17,100 jobs). In 2023 and 2024, temporary employment fell by an average of 1.6% per quarter (that is -12,400 jobs). Temporary employment was below its Q1 2024 level by 5.9% (that is -44,600 jobs) and 8.5% below its pre-pandemic level (that is -66,000 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, services).

Between the end of December 2024 and the end of March 2025, private payroll employment excluding temporary work in agriculture fell slightly by 0.5% (that is -1,400 jobs) after a virtual stability in the previous quarter (+0.1% that is +400 jobs). It was below its previous year level by 1.0%.

Industrial private payroll employment (excluding temporary work) was stable after a virtual stability in the previous quarter (-0.1%, that is -3,000 jobs). It was almost at the same level as a year earlier (+0.1% that is +2,000 jobs) and it exceeded its pre-pandemic level by +2.5% (that is +77,900 jobs).

In construction, private payroll employment (excluding temporary work) decreased for the ninth consecutive quarter: -0.7% (that is -10,800 jobs) after -0.6% in the previous quarter (that is -9,600 jobs). It was below its Q1 2024 level (-2.1% that is -32,400 jobs), but remained well above its pre-pandemic level (+3.9%, that is +57,500 jobs compared to the end of 2019).

In Q1 2025, in market services, private payroll employment (excluding temporary work) was stable (0.0% that is +900 jobs), after a downturn in the previous quarter (-0.2% that is -25,400 jobs). It was virtually stable from a year earlier (-0.1% or -16,100 jobs) and exceeded sharply its pre-pandemic level (+7.3% compared to the end of 2019 or +852,400 jobs).

In non-market services, private payroll employment (excluding temporary work) rebounded by 0.8% after -0.5% in the previous quarter, that is +22,600 jobs after -13,200 jobs. It exceeded its Q1 2024 level by 0.9% (or +24,500 jobs) and its end of 2019 level by 6.1% (or +158,900 jobs).