As at the end of 2017, 27.8 million people were in employment in France, i.e. 341,000 more jobs than one year previously, after 219,000 net creations in 2016. This is the largest increase since 2007. This dynamism in employment is rooted in private salaried employment, with public employment falling slightly, mainly as a result of the number of subsidised contracts.

In 2017, the share of under-employment, which had increased above all in 2008 and 2009, declined for the second year in a row. However, among employees, the share of short-term employment was at its highest historical level. Part-time work remains stable. It has gained 0.9 percentage points in mainland France since 2007, but most of this increase came before 2012. In France, the activity rate for people ages 15-64 is 71.5%, up 0.1 percentage points in 2017. This increase is part of a longer trend observed in mainland France: +2.1 points over the last decade. The make-up of the active population is shifting: the participation rate of the 15-24 age group, which was close to that of the 55-64 age group in 2007, has been in decline since 2009, while that of the 55-64 age group has increased considerably, as a result of successive pension reforms and early retirement schemes.

The unemployment rate came out at 9.4% of the working population on average per year in 2017. It fell for the second consecutive year (-0.7 point after -0.3 point in 2016). This was its most sizeable decline, on an annual average since 2008. It thus reached its lowest level since 2012; nevertheless, it remains 2.0 percentage points higher than its 2008 level, its last low point. In 2017, in France, 3.8% of people ages 15-64 fell within the unemployment halo, as had been the case in 2016.

The average per capita wage sped up in the private (+1.7% in 2017 after +1.2%) and public (+2.2% in 2017 after +0.6%) sectors. However, due to the resurgence in inflation, it is slowing down markedly in real terms in the private sector and barely accelerating in the public sector.

In 2017, labour costs increased by 1.1%, in line with the moderate increase seen the previous years. Several measures have contributed to its moderation since 2013, mainly the tax credit for competitiveness and employment (CICE). In total, between 2012 and 2017, labour costs increased by 5.3% in current euros; in the absence of these measures, it would have increased almost twice as fast (+9.8%).