Informations Rapides · 9 March 2022 · n° 62

In Q4 2021, payroll employment increased by 0.4 % Payroll employment - fourth quarter 2021

Between the end of September and the end of December 2021, payroll employment increased by +0.4% (+106,900 jobs). This is the fourth consecutive quarterly increase, after +0.7% in the first quarter, +1.2% in the second and +0.5% in the third. The increase in the fourth quarter of 2021 is exclusively due to private payroll employment, which rose by 0.6% (or +117,900 jobs), as in the previous quarter. In contrast, employment in the public sector fell by 0.2% (or −11,000 jobs) after +0.2% (+11,400 jobs) in the previous quarter.

In total, at the end of 2021, payroll employment employment was 2.8% (or +697,400 jobs) above its end of 2020 level and 1.5% (+380,100 jobs) above its pre-health crisis level (end of 2019). By comparison, between 2015 and 2019, 215,600 jobs were created on average each year.

In Q4 2021, temporary employment increased by 5.4% (or +42,300 jobs) after more moderate increases since the beginning of the year (+50,200 net creations over the first three quarters). Temporary employment is thus well above its pre-crisis level: +6.3% (or +49,100 jobs) compared to the end of 2019.

As a reminder, in this publication, temporary workers are accounted for in the temporary employment within market services, whichever sector they carry out their assignment (industry, construction, market or non market services).

Industrial employment (excluding temporary work) increased in the fourth quarter of 2021: +0.2% (i.e. +5,000 jobs) in line with the previous quarters (+0.2%, +0.1% and +0.2% in the first, second and third quarters of 2021). However, it had fallen by 1.7% over the whole of 2020 (−55,000 jobs). At the end of 2021, industrial employment is thus higher than its level at the end of 2020 (+0.7%, or +21,100 jobs) but remains below its pre-crisis level: -1.1% compared to the end of 2019, or -33,900 jobs.

In market services excluding temporary work, payroll employment slowed down again: +0.5% after +0.8% (i.e. +56,900 after +93,100 jobs). Employment in this sector has been heavily affected by the health restrictions, with a 2.6% drop over the whole of 2020 (or −306,800 jobs). However, it rebounded strongly in 2021, particularly at the end of the first semester, increasing by a total of 4.3% over the year (+490,900 jobs). At the end of 2021, employment in this sector exceeded by 1.6% it's end of 2019 level (+184,100 jobs). By the end of 2021, almost all sub-sectors have reached or even exceeded their pre-crisis level, particularly accommodation and food services and household services.

In construction, payroll employment increased this quarter: +0.4% after −0.1% in the previous quarter (or +6,300 after −1,500 jobs). Payroll employment in this sector increased by 2.5% over the year (or +36,800 jobs) and remained well above its pre-health crisis level: +4.7% compared to the end of 2019 (+67,600 jobs).

Payroll employment in the mainly non-market services sector slowed down slightly in the fourth quarter of 2021: −0.1% after +0.1% in the previous quarter (that is −8,500 after +6,300 jobs). This is due to public employment, which represents two thirds of the sector's employment. After having fallen in the first half of 2020 (−1.1% or −84,800 jobs), employment in mainly non-market services increased strongly between mid-2020 and the third quarter of 2021 (+2.5% or +197,600 jobs). In total, it clearly exceeds its pre-crisis level: +1.3% compared to the end of 2019, i.e. +104,300 jobs. The health sector in particular contributes to this increase (+61,000 jobs).

Compared to the employment estimate published on 8 December 2021, the increase in payroll employment (private and public) in the third quarter of 2021 is raised by 0.1 points, or 12,500 jobs. The revision comes mainly from market services (+5,100). Compared to the flash estimate published on 4 February 2022, the increase in payroll employment in the private sector alone in the fourth quarter of 2021 is raised by 0.1 points, or +11,200 jobs. These various revisions are mainly due to the updating of seasonal variation coefficients.