France Private Payroll Employment Up Slightly

Private payroll employment in France rose by 0.2%, or 43,400 jobs to 21.03 million in the second quarter of 2025, rebounding slightly from a 0.1% fall in the first quarter and defying both market forecasts and preliminary estimates of zero growth.

Job gains were mainly observed in the agriculture sector (+0.4%).

By age group, employment was stable among those aged 15–29, almost stable for 30–54-year-olds, and increased sharply for people aged 55 years old and more (+0.9%).

On a yearly basis, private payroll employment dropped by 0.1%, or 27,900 jobs.

However, it remained well above pre-pandemic levels (end of 2019), with an increase of 5.5% or about 1.1 million jobs.