DECRYPTION
Partial unemployment is gaining momentum with confinement: more than 700,000 companies now benefit from it, for a total of 8 million employees concerned, according to the latest figures given by the Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud. Figures that have doubled in just over a week and could climb further in the next weeks of confinement. These national data actually hide great disparities depending on the region, the size of the company or even the sector of activity.
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Small businesses suffer
First, it is mainly very small structures that suffer. On their own, companies with fewer than 20 employees account for 40% of requests for partial unemployment. Conversely, large companies resist very well: only 8% of people affected by partial unemployment work in structures with more than 500 employees.
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With all the non-essential stores closed since March 21, it is the trade sector that calls the most for State aid, with 22% of requests for 16% of all the employees concerned. It is ahead of the hotel and catering industry, another sector that is almost completely at a standstill (15% of requests), and construction, which has stopped its activity before resuming sporadically since the beginning of April (14%). On the other hand, the finance sector continues to perform well: it represents barely 2% of requests.
Île-de-France, by far the most affected region
Finally, the region where partial unemployment is most in demand is not surprisingly the Ile-de-France. One in five companies requesting partial unemployment is based in the Paris region. The economic lung of France is even overrepresented since it accounts for 23% of employees in partial activity, while it weighs for 17% of the French population.
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Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes also stands out with 13% of requests, compared to 9% for Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the third region with the highest demand. This is partly due to the population difference between these two regions, but also due to the sharp end of the winter sports season and the closure of the Alpine resorts in mid-March. Next come Occitania and New Aquitaine.