Market services in 2011: still growing

French market services posted 2.2% real growth in value added in 2011, nearly the same pace as in 2010. Employment rose 2.3%, adding 156,000 jobs on a full-time-equivalent basis. The main driver was the 3.2% increase in corporate and government demand. In terms of value added and production, the most buoyant categories were administrative/support, legal, accounting, engineering, and research services. By contrast, household demand growth weakened to 1.1% as a result of smaller purchasing-power gains. The hardest-hit category was cultural services. Despite a robust improvement, the trade balance in market services stayed in the red, posting a €1.8-billion deficit.