FX.co ★ France Private Payroll Employment Stalls in Q2

The second quarter of 2025 saw a stagnation in private payroll employment in France, with a reduction of 4,800 jobs, resulting in a total of 20.97 million — marking the lowest point in almost three years, according to preliminary estimates. This decline follows a 0.1% drop in the prior quarter and goes against market expectations of a 0.1% increase. Employment remained nearly constant in both the industrial sector (-0.1%) and market services (+0.1%), while experiencing a slight rise in non-market services (+0.2%). Conversely, the construction sector continued to see a decrease in employment (-0.5%). On an annual comparison, private payroll employment fell by 0.4%, equivalent to a loss of 93,900 jobs, yet it still stood considerably above pre-pandemic figures from the fourth quarter of 2019, reflecting a 5.2% growth and an addition of 1.0 million jobs.