Between 1975 and 2009, the number of jobs increased sharply in Metropolitan France, rising from 20.8 million to 25.7 million according to population censuses. In these thirty-four years the world of work was reconfigured by a massive expansion of the tertiary sector. More than 8.8 million jobs were created in tertiary activities. Over the same period, manufacturing lost 2.5 million jobs, agriculture 1.4 million and construction more than 117,000. This growth in tertiary activity has led to a radical change in local production patterns. Geographical economics usually distinguishes three spheres of activity: one that is conventionally called “productive”, the output from which can be exported outside the territory and which is driven by competitiveness logics; a residential sphere linked to the presence of populations; and a public sphere financed by taxes. In thirty-four years the share of the productive sphere fell from 48% to 35% of jobs. That of the public sphere grew from 18% to 31%. In 1975, the productive sphere accounted for half of all jobs in 10 of France's 22 administrative regions, 49 of its 96 administrative departments, and 208 employment areas out of 348. In 2009 it was not in the majority in any region or department, and only in 10 employment areas. Like the population, employment grew more in the southern and western regions of France. Between employment areas the traditional divides were based on the opposition between agricultural rural zones and tertiary urban zones and on the share of industrial employment. They are now based first and foremost on the composition of tertiary fabrics, reflecting the unequal weight of cities and the growth of a residential economy in the Mediterranean areas and in a growing proportion of the rural space. Between 1999 and 2009 the large metro areas gained many jobs and inhabitants, and the smaller cities less so.