According to Insee, the French economy created a net 268,800 salaried positions last year. This corresponds to an increase of 1.1%. In terms of positions, it is actually a little more than what was announced in mid-February in an initial estimate.
Moreover, it is a better level than those observed in 2016 (+234,500 positions) and in 2015, whose results were revised downwards. At the end of 2017, the French economy employed about 25 million people, including 19.3 million in the private sector and 5.8 million in the public sector.
In detail, approximately 277,700 jobs were created last year in the private sector (+1.5%), while the public sector saw 8,900 jobs disappear (a decrease of 0.2% compared to 2016) mainly due to the reduction in the number of subsidized contracts, observed at the end of the year.
In fact, if in 2016 total employment also increased by 1.1%, part of that rise was then attributable to the public sector, which is no longer the case in 2017.
In the fourth quarter alone, public statisticians recorded 72,700 job creations (up by 0.3%). During this period, as well as throughout the year, services and, to a lesser extent, temporary employment, were the engines of employment growth.
The icing on the cake, at the end of the year, employment regained growth in industry and accelerated in construction. Industry thus experienced “its first increase since 2001,” highlights Insee.
