The French economy gained a little more than 66,000 salaried jobs in the private sector in the first quarter despite zero growth, according to provisional figures published this Friday by Insee. A performance better than expected.
Despite the growth stagnation recorded over the first three months of the year, private sector employment increased by 0.3% between the end of December and the end of March.
This is half as much as in the last three months of last year, but it is significantly more than the 15,000 net creations that the national statistics institute had anticipated so far. Moreover, this forecast, dating from mid-March, was based on an assumption of GDP growth of 0.3%.
All these figures, even if provisional, and even if they don’t tell the whole story, undoubtedly represent a pleasant surprise. The satisfaction displayed by the government is therefore not unfounded. However, is it sustainable knowing that macroeconomic prospects remain very uncertain?
