Informations Rapides · 5 July 2023 · n° 174

In Q1 2023, payroll employment increased in four out of five regions and was almost stable in the others Localized employment and unemployment rates (by region and department) - first quarter 2023

Between the end of December 2022 and the end of March 2023, payroll employment in France as a whole (excluding Mayotte) increased again: +0.3% after +0.2% in the previous quarter. Payroll employment in market services excluding temporary work was up by 0.7% whereas temporary work fell back significantly (-2.2%).

At regional level, payroll employment was almost stable (between -0.1% and +0.1%) in three overseas regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, La Réunion). It increased by 0.2%, slightly less than the national level (+0.3%) in five regions. It increased at a rate at least as fast as at national level in nine regions: in eight regions of metropolitan France, the increase in payroll employment was between 0.3% and 0.5%, while in Guyane it reached 0.9%.

At departmental level, payroll employment increased in the first quarter of 2023 by at least 0.3% in almost half of the departments. The increase is the strongest in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (+1.4%) and in Guyane (+0.9%). In eleven departments, payroll employment rose by 0.2%, just below the national level. It was almost stable in 32 departments. It fell in ten departments, notably in Creuse (-0,6%) and Hautes-Alpes (-0.5%).

At the national level, in Q1 2023, total payroll employment was 1.3% higher than in the first quarter of 2022. It was above its level of one year earlier in all regions. It was well above this level in Guyane (+4.0%) and Guadeloupe (+3.1%). In the other regions, the rise was between +0.3% (for Hauts-de-France) and +1.8% for three regions (Île-de-France, Bretagne and La Réunion).

Payroll employment was above its March 2022 level in 83 of the 100 departments (excluding Mayotte). The additional payroll employment over one year was more significant in the overseas departments, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean coasts, in Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and in two departments of the Île-de-France region. On the whole, trends were more favourable in departments hosting a regional metropolis than in neighbouring departments.

Conversely, payroll employment remained below its March 2022 level in six departments, with declines reaching -0.7% in Creuse. Lastly, it was almost stable in eleven departments.

Nationwide (excluding Mayotte), the unemployment rate was 7.1% in Q1 2023 (as in the previous quarter). Compared with its level a year earlier, it was down by 0.3 points.

Between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, the unemployment rate was virtually unchanged in six regions, and increased by 0.2 points in one region, La Réunion. It decreased in ten regions, with a slightly smaller drop than at national level in two regions, Bretagne and Grand Est (-0.2 points). In four regions, the unemployment rate fell as much as at national level (-0.3 points), and it decreased more in four other regions.

Over one year, the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 points in three departments (Jura, Nièvre and La Réunion), and was almost stable in 33 departments. The unemployment rate fell slightly less sharply than at national level in 26 departments (-0.2 points). It fell as much as at national level in 13 departments. At last, it fell more sharply than at national level in 25 departments, with falls of no more than 0.5 points, with the exception of Guyane (-1.5 points).

In the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate was higher than at the national level (7.1%) in three regions in metropolitan France: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (8.0%), Occitanie (8.5%) and Hauts-de-France (8.7%). In the French overseas regions, it was higher, ranging from 12.4% in Martinique to 18.7% in La Réunion. Conversely, the unemployment rate was the lowest in Pays de la Loire (5.6%), Bretagne (5.7%), and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (6.0%).