The first quarter of 2020 saw the destruction of 497,400 jobs in the private sector, a drop of 2.5% caused by a 40% collapse of the temporary agency under the effect of containment against the epidemic of coronavirus, according to l final estimate from INSEE published Thursday. Over one year, the decline is 1.6% (-317,200 jobs). At the end of March, salaried employment returned to "its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2017", indicates the institute of statistics.
This estimate is even worse than the provisional one published on May 7 which reported 453,800 job losses in the quarter. If we add the decline in the public service which lost 4,900 jobs (or -0.1%), salaried employment fell by a total of 502,400 over the quarter. This drop is due to the historical decline in temporary employment (-40.4%, or -318,100 temporary workers, after -2,900 in the previous quarter). By comparison, during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, temporary employment fell by 13.9% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and then by 13% in the first quarter of 2009.
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Construction and industry hit hard
The drop concerns all sectors, but it is stronger in construction (-60.5%) and industry (-40.7%) than in the tertiary sector (-31%). Excluding temporary work, market services nevertheless fell sharply: -1.3% or -150,300 jobs. "The decline in the first quarter cancels the increases in the previous three quarters and employment in market services excluding temporary work almost returns to its level of the previous year," said INSEE.
Wage employment fell sharply in accommodation and catering (-4.4% or -50,600 jobs) and "household services" (-2.8% or -37,400). Its decline is less pronounced in transport (-0.9% or -12,200) and trade (-0.7% or -22,400 jobs).
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In mainly non-market services, salaried employment fell by 0.2%, or 15,500 job losses. Industrial employment fell by 0.4% (−11,300 jobs). It was the first drop since the first quarter of 2017. The industry lost 8,000 jobs compared to a year earlier (or −0.3%).
In construction, salaried employment also decreased by 0.4% (-5,600 jobs). Employment in this sector had not declined since the end of 2016. However, due to the dynamism of the previous quarters, construction employment remains 24,500 higher than its level a year earlier (ie + 1.8%) . At the end of March, France had 25 million employees, including 19.25 million in the private sector.