Informations Rapides · 29 May 2026 · n° 135

In Q1 2026, payroll employment was stable Quarterly employment estimates – detailed figures - first quarter 2026

In Q1 2026, payroll employment was stable (0.0% that is -4,900 net job creations) after a vitual stability in the previous quarter (-0.1% that is -40,500 jobs). It was below its Q1 2025 level by 0.2% (that is -47,600 jobs) but still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level (end of 2019) by 4.7% (that is 1.2 million additional jobs).

In Q1 2026, private payroll employment was virtually stable (-0.1%) as in the previous quarter (that is -13,900 jobs after -19,500 jobs). Over a year, private payroll employement decreased by 0.3% (that is -60,700 jobs): it was the fifth consecutive quarter of year-on-year slight decline. However, It still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level by 5.1% (that is +1.0 million jobs).

Public payroll employment was virtually stable in Q1 2026 (+0.1%, that is +9,000 jobs) after a downturn in the previous quarter (-0.3% that is -21,000 jobs). It slightly exceeded by 0.2% its Q1 2025 level (that is +13,200 jobs) and sharply its Q4 2019 level (+3.4% that is +0.2 million jobs). Over a year, public payroll employment increased for contract staff and decreased for civil servants.

In Q1 2026, temporary employment decreased slightly: -0.4%, (that is -3,000 jobs), after -0.1% in the previous quarter (that is -400 jobs). Temporary employment was slightly below its Q1 2025 level (-0.6% that is -4,000 jobs) and clearly below its pre-sanitary crisis level (-9.2% that is -71,400 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 Q1 2026, payroll employment in agriculture declined (-1.1% that is -3,700 jobs) after a sharp rebound in the previous quarter (+4.5% that is +14,000 jobs) as a consequence of a particularly early grape harvest in 2025 (more concentrated in August than usual, as a result, private payroll employment had fallen below its usual level by the end of September). Payroll employment in agriculture was below its Q1 2025 level by 0.7% (that is -2,200 jobs).

Industrial payroll employment (excluding temporary work) continued to decrease very slightly in Q1 2026 (-0.1% that is -3,900 jobs). It was below its Q1 2025 level (-0.5%, that is -17,700 jobs) but still exceeded sharply its pre-sanitary crisis level by 1.9% (that is +61,700 jobs).

In construction, payroll employment (excluding temporary work) decreased (-0.5% that is -7,700 jobs) as in the previous quarter (-0.3% that is -5,100 jobs). It remained below its Q1 2025 level (-1.3%, that is -19,900 jobs), but well above its pre-sanitary crisis level (+3.2% that is +46,700 jobs).

In Q1 2026, payroll employment in market services (excluding temporary work) was stable (that is +200 jobs) after a virtual stability in the previous quarter (-0.1% that is that is -14,500 jobs). It was slightly below it Q1 2025 level (-0.1%, that is -7,400 jobs) but exceeded still largely its pre-sanitary crisis level (+7.0% that is +0.8 million jobs). In market services, excluding temporary work, payroll employment decreased slightly in information and communication (-0.4% that is -3,300 jobs), in wholesale and retail trade (-0.1%, that is -3,200 jobs) and in transportation and storage (-0.2% that is -2,800 jobs) and increased, however, in other service activities (+0.3% that is +4,500 jobs) and in financial and insurance activities (+0.2% that is +2,100 jobs).

In Q1 2026, payroll employment in non-market services bounced back moderately (+0.2% that is +13,200 jobs) after a decrease by 0.3% in the previous quarter (that is -29,500 jobs). The increase was supported by both its public component (+0.1% that is +8,000 jobs) and its private component (+0.2% that is +5,200 jobs). By sector of activity, payroll employment in non-market services increased particularly in human health activities (+7,100 jobs), and to a lesser extent in education (+3,200 jobs). Payroll employment in non-market services was stable over a year (that is +3,600 jobs) and exceeded largely its pre-sanitary crisis level by 4.0% (that is +0.3 million jobs).

In the private sector, in Q1 2026 permanent contracts declined slightly over a quarter or over a year (-0.1%) and was still above its pre-sanitary crisis level by 5.1%. Work-study contracts declined moderately over the quarter (-0.4%, that is -4,200 jobs) bringing the year-to-year decrease to 4.4% (that is -46,400 jobs). This decrease only partially eroded the gains from previous years over the quarter. However, fixed term contrats (excluding work study) increased slighlty over a quarter (+0.4%) and over a year (+0.5%), while still remaining well below its pre-sanitary crisis level (-7.1%).

In Q1 2026, private payroll employment declined again for people aged 15-29 years old (-0.2%), bringing the year-to-year decline to 1.3%, due notably to the fall in work study contracts. Private payroll employement decreased also for people aged 30-54 years old : -0.2% over the quarter, bringing the year-to-year decline to 0.8%. However private payroll employment increased again for people aged 55 years old and more: +0.7% over the quarter, bringing the year-to-year increase to 2.8%. Finally, the respective trends for women and men were very similar over the quarter and over the year (-0.3%).

In Q1 2026, non-salaried employment rose clearly again (+0.6%, that is +20,900 jobs over a quarter) bringing the year-to-year increase to +2.3% (that is +80,000 jobs). Considering payroll employment in Q1 2026, employment (payroll and non-salaried) was virtually stable (+0.1%) over a quarter and over a year (that is +16,000 jobs over a quarter and +32,400 jobs over a year).

Compared to the flash estimate published on 30 April 2026, the quarterly change in payroll employment in the private sector alone in Q1 2026 has been confirmed at -0.1% (revision of -2,500 jobs).

Compared to the employment detailed estimate published on 27 February 2026, the quarterly change in payroll employment (private and public) in Q4 2025 has been confirmed at -0.1% (revision of -500 jobs). Previous quarters have been revised slightly more than usual, due to the annual update of the seasonal adjustment models for the private sector.