Insee Focus · January 2023 · n° 288

In 2021, employment increased unprecedentedly

Between the end of 2020 and the end of 2021, employment in France accelerated sharply: +1.1 million, after having stagnated in 2020 (according to the revised estimate, which includes apprenticeship). Salaried employment increased by 890,000 jobs, driven by the economic rebound and the end of activity restrictions related to the health crisis, as well as by the rise in apprenticeship. Non-salaried employment barely slowed down by the crisis in 2020, continued to increase significantly in 2021 (+225,000).

Employment increased in all regions. In each of them, the level of employment at the end of 2021 exceeded that at the end of 2019, before the health crisis.