Employment grew strongly in the second quarter

Between the end of March and the end of June 2022, salaried employment increased by 0.4%, or 95,300 more jobs, in line with the increase observed in the first quarter, to reach 26.6 million, according to final figures from INSEE published this Thursday. These have been revised down slightly from a provisional estimate for the private sector alone, unveiled at the beginning of August .

In mid-2022, salaried employment is “significantly above” its level a year earlier (+2.2%, or +561,100 jobs) and its level before the health crisis, at the end of 2019 (+3 .2% or +832,000 jobs), underlines the national statistics institute.

In detail, the increase in the second quarter is driven by the private sector, employment in the public sector having remained stable. Excluding temporary work, which lost 20,000 jobs, it was the accommodation and catering sector that contributed the most to the overall increase over the quarter (+29,800 jobs), ahead of business services (+24,200), l information-communication (+15,100 jobs) and commerce (+9,900 jobs).

Industrial employment, still excluding temporary workers, increased by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2022. It returned to its pre-crisis level. In construction, the number of salaried employees remained stable. Finally, in the non-market tertiary sector, they barely increased.

Growth at half mast

Between now and the end of the year, will employment be overtaken by the economic situation, which is showing clear signs of a slowdown even if recruitment difficulties remain very high? This is likely given the latest forecasts from INSEE. The statistical institute has revised downwards its growth forecasts for the end of the year . GDP should progress by a modest 0.2% in Q3 and activity should stagnate over the last three months of the year.

Whatever the upheavals in growth, the government remains entirely attached to its objective of achieving full employment by 2027. This will moreover be one of the themes addressed. during the premiere of the National Council for Refoundation this Thursday in Marcoussis, in the Paris region .

One of the ways to achieve this, defends the Executive, is to go through unemployment insurance reform to make the compensation criteria more incentive or protective depending on the situation. A consultation with the social partners will start in the coming days for this, although the unions are all opposed to it.

Another lever goes through the consistency of the actors in charge of the unemployed and integration RSA beneficiaries , Pôle emploi, local missions or departments. This is the “France travail” project, the official launch of which is expected shortly in the form of a preconfiguration mission. The much-needed reform of training for the unemployed depends on it .