“Work-study contracts contribute significantly to the decline”: salaried employment in the private sector declines slightly in the third quarter

Salaried employment in the private sector in France fell again very slightly in the third quarter, falling by 0.1%, in line with the slowdown in the French economy, INSEE indicated on Friday in a provisional estimate. Some 25,800 jobs were lost, or 0.1%, in the third quarter, maintaining virtual stability as had been the case in the first and second quarters.

Over one year, the decline is more marked, at -0.3%, or 69,800 fewer jobs, falling over twelve months for the seventh consecutive quarter. “Work-study contracts, mostly apprenticeships, contribute significantly to the decline in private salaried employment,” explains INSEE.

Over one year, the decline is more marked, at -0.3%, or 69,800 fewer jobs, and represents a seventh consecutive quarter of decline. Compared to its peak reached at the start of 2024, private salaried employment has lost 148.

400 jobs (-0.7%), but it nevertheless remains well above its level at the end of 2019, before the Covid health crisis (+4.9%). Temporary employment has started to rise again By sector, private employment in industry continued its continuous decline recorded since the start of 2025, with a slight decrease of 0.2% (-6,400 jobs).

The decline was more marked in the private agricultural sector, with 6,000 fewer jobs (-1.9%), and, to a lesser extent, in construction (-0.4%, or 6,100 fewer jobs).

More easily used by companies as an adjustment variable and as such often considered a trendsetter, temporary employment started to rise again in the third quarter, with an increase of 1.3% (+8,900 jobs) after a decline of 1% in the previous quarter. Without taking into account temporary work, private salaried employment remained almost stable (-0.1%) in the commercial tertiary sector.

This maintenance of a quasi-stable level of private salaried employment in the third quarter is part of a decline of 0.1% in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to figures published on Friday. “In 2026, the French economy is at a standstill,” judged the French Minister of Economy and Finance, Roland Lescure.

Machine-translated from French