Informations Rapides · 27 February 2026 · n° 53

In Q4 2025, payroll employment was virtually stable Payroll employment - fourth quarter 2025

In Q4 2025, payroll employment was virtually stable (-0.1% that is -40,100 net job creations) after a stability in the previous quarter (that is -5,300 jobs). It was below its Q4 2024 level by 0.2% (that is -45,900 jobs) but still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level (end of 2019) by 4.9% (that is 1.3 million additional jobs).

In Q4 2025, private payroll employment decreased very slightly (-0.1%) as in the previous quarter (that is -20,900 jobs after -24,200 jobs). Over a year, private payroll employement decreased by 0.3% (that is -60,200 jobs) : it was the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year slight decline. However, It still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level by 5.4% (that is +1.1 million jobs).

Public payroll employment fell back in Q4 2025: -0.3% after +0.3% in Q3 2025 (that is -19,200 jobs after +18,900 jobs). It still exceeded by 0.2% its Q4 2024 level (that is +14,300 jobs) and by 3.3% its Q4 2019 level (that is +0,2 million jobs). Over a year, public payroll employment increased for contract staff and decreased for civil servants.

In Q4 2025, temporary employment decreased slightly (-0.2%, that is -1,200 jobs), as in the previous quarter (-0.3% that is -2,000 jobs). Temporary employment was below its Q4 2024 level (-0.7% that is -5,200 jobs) and clearly below its pre-sanitary crisis level (-8.9% that is -69,300 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 Q4 2025, payroll employment in agriculture bounced back (+3.9% that is +12,300 jobs). The downturn in Q3 2025 (-3.2% that is -10,300 jobs) 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 above its Q4 2024 level by 0.5% (that is +1,600 jobs)

Industrial payroll employment (excluding temporary work) was virtually stable in Q4 2025 (-0.1% that is -4,500 jobs). It was below its Q4 2024 level (-0.5%, that is -16,100 jobs) but still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level by 2.1% (that is +65,400 jobs).

In construction, payroll employment (excluding temporary work) decreased (-0.4% that is -5 600 jobs) after a virtually stability in the previous quarter (-0.1% that is -900 jobs). It remained below its Q4 2024 level (-1.2%, that is -18,700 jobs), but well above its pre-sanitary crisis level (+3.7% that is +55,200 jobs).

In Q4 2025, payroll employment in market services (excluding temporary work) decreased very slighlty (-0.1%) as in the previous quarter (that is -13,800 jobs after -8,200 jobs). It was slightly below it Q4 2024 level (-0.1%, that is -12,700 jobs) but exceeded still largely its pre-sanitary crisis level (+7.4% that is +0.9 million jobs). In market services, excluding temporary work, payroll employment fell back significantly in wholesale and retail trade in Q4 2025 (-0.4% that is -15,100 jobs), and in information and communication (-0.6% that is -5,300 jobs).

In Q4 2025, payroll employment in non-market services fell back (-0.3% that is -27,300 jobs). The decrease was supported by its public component (-0.3% that is -20,000 jobs) and its private component (-0.3% that is -7,300 jobs). By sector of activity, payroll employment in non-market services decreased particularly in education (-13,500 jobs), and in general government (-11,300 jobs). Payroll employment in non-market services exceeded barely its Q4 2024 level by 0.1% (that is +5,200 jobs) and largely its pre-sanitary crisis level by 3.9% (that is +0.3 million jobs).

In the private sector, in Q4 2025, over a quarter or over a year, permanent contracts and fixed-term contracts (excluding work-study) were stable or virtually stable. Work-study contracts decreased over the quarter (-0.8%, that is -7,800 jobs) but to a much lesser extent thant in Q3 2025 (-3.6%, that is -38,100 jobs). Work-study contracts also fell back over a year (-4.2% that is -44,200 jobs), but remained significantly above its level at the end of 2019 (+57.5% that is +364,700 jobs).

In Q4 2025, private payroll employment declined again for people aged 15-29 years old (-0.3% after -0.6%), due notably to the fall in work study contracts, as well asfor people aged 30-54 years old (-0.2% after -0.2%). However private payroll employment increased again for people aged 55 years old and more: +0.6% over the quarter, bringing the year-to-year increase to +2.4%. 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 30 January 2026, the quarterly change in payroll employment in the private sector alone in Q4 2025 has been confirmed at -0.1% (revision of +7,800 jobs, the rouding hasn’t been revised). This revision is mainly visible in agriculture (+4,200 jobs) and was the result of taking into account a higher than anticipated number of late declarations for temporary contracts.

Compared to the employment detailed estimate published on 28 November 2025, the quarterly change in payroll employment (private and public) in Q3 2025 hasn’t been revised (0.0% that is +5,400 jobs).