Informations Rapides · 28 November 2025 · n° 302

In Q3 2025, payroll employment was stable Payroll employment - third quarter 2025

In Q3 2025, payroll employment was stable (0.0% that is -10,700 net job creations) after a slightly increase in the previous quarter (+0.2% that is +49,300 jobs). It was below its Q3 2024 level by 0.2% (that is -54,400 jobs) but exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level (end of 2019) by 5.0% (that is 1.3 million additional jobs).

In Q3 2025, private payroll employment decreased very slightly, after an increase in the previous quarter: -0.1% after +0.2% (that is -27,300 jobs after +40,600 jobs). Over the year, private payroll employment decreased by 0.3% (that is -72,900 jobs); this was the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decrease after almost four years of increase. It still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level by 5.5% (that is +1.1 million jobs).

Public payroll employment continued to increase slightly in Q3 2025: +0.3% after +0.1% (that is +16,600 jobs after +8,700 jobs). It exceeded by 0.3% its Q3 2024 level (that is +18,500 jobs) and by 3.6% its Q4 2019 level (that is +0,2 million jobs).

In Q3 2025, temporary employment decreased (-0.6%, that is -4,300 jobs), after a virtual stability in the previous quarter (-0.1% that is -500 jobs). Temporary employment was sharply below its Q3 2024 level (-2.9% that is -20,700 jobs) and its pre-sanitary crisis level (-9.1% that is -70,300 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 Q3 2025, payroll employment in agriculture decreased strongly (-3.5% that is -11,500 jobs). This downturn was due to a particularly early grape harvest in 2025, more concentrated in August than usual, which led to an unusually low number of jobs in September. Payroll employment in agriculture was below its Q3 2024 level by 4.2% (that is -13,800 jobs)

Industrial payroll employment (excluding temporary work) was virtually stable in Q3 2025 (-0.1% that is -4,800 jobs). It was below its Q3 2024 level (-0.3%, that is -11,100 jobs) but still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level by 2.2% (that is +71,100 jobs).

In construction, payroll employment (excluding temporary work) stabilised (-100 jobs) after ten consecutive quarters of decline (of which -4,100 jobs in Q2 2025). It still remained below its Q3 2024 level (-1.3%, that is -20,200 jobs) and well above its pre-sanitary crisis level (+4.1% that is +61,200 jobs).

In Q3 2025, payroll employment in market services (excluding temporary work) was stable after a rebound in the previous quarter (+0.3%), that is -5,500 jobs after +37,100 jobs. It was slightly below it Q3 2024 level (-0.1%, that is -12,400 jobs) and exceeded still largely its pre-sanitary crisis level (+7.4% that is +0,9 million jobs). In market services, excluding temporary work, payroll employment increased in wholesale and retail trade (that is +4,500 jobs), but decreased in information and communication (that is -5,400 jobs) and in other service activities (that is -4,900 jobs).

In Q3 2025, payroll employment in non-market services increased again by +0.2% (that is +15,600 jobs after +20,200 jobs). The increase was supported by its public component (+16,300 jobs) whereas payroll private employment in non-market service was virtually stable (-800 jobs). By sector of activity, payroll employment in non-market services increased particularly in education (+9,500 jobs), and to a lesser extent, in general government (+4,400 jobs) and in health activities (that is +3,600 jobs). Payroll employment in non-market services exceeded its Q3 2024 level by 0.3% (that is +23,600 jobs) and its pre-sanitary crisis level by 4.3% (that is +0.4 million jobs).

In the private sector, in Q3 2025, permanent contracts and fixed-term contracts (excluding work-study) increased slightly but remained below its level of a year ago. Work-study contracts fell back sharply in Q3 2025 (-4.6%, that is -49,200 jobs) and over a year (-2.5%), but remained significantly above its level at the end of 2019 (+58.0%).

In Q3 2025, private payroll employment declined for people aged 15-29 years old (-0.7%), due to the downturn in work study contracts. It decreased, to a lesser extent, for people aged 30-54 years old (-0.3%). On the contrary, private payroll employment increased for people aged 55 years old and more: +1.0% over the quarter, bringing the year-to-year increase to 2.1%. Finally, the respective trends for women and men were very similar over the quarter and over the year.

Compared to the flash estimate published on 6 November 2025, the payroll employment in the private sector alone in Q3 2025 has been revised upwards by 33,300 jobs, with its relative evolution revised upwards by 0.2 points. This revision is mainly visible in market service excluding temporary work (+30,900 jobs) and was the result of taking into account a higher than anticipated number of late declarations. The quarterly change in payroll employment in agriculture has been revised upwards (-6,500 jobs) and was the result of taking into account a lower than anticipated number of late declarations.

Compared to the employment detailed estimate published on 29 August 2025, the quarterly change in payroll employment (private and public) in Q2 2025 has been barely revised downward by 2,600 jobs.