Bad news on the employment front.
According to the latest data published on Tuesday, September 8 by Insee and Acoss (the Central Agency for Social Security Bodies), job destruction increased in the second quarter.
Over the months of April to June inclusive, salaried employment fell again, by 0.9%, representing 215,200 net job losses.
Salaried employment is therefore back to its level of “
end of March 2017
”, the note indicates.
Read also: Recovery plan: 160,000 jobs created in 2021 for 100 billion euros, is that a good ratio?
Unlike the first quarter, this time, the job destruction impacted the private sector (158,200 net destruction) and the public (57,100 net destruction).
Good news, however, temporary work has rebounded significantly: after a historic drop of 40% in the first quarter, it climbed 23%, resulting in the creation of 108,100 jobs.
It has not yet regained its pre-crisis level, specifies the Dares.
In total, "
over one year, salaried employment fell by 572,900
", sums up INSEE.
In the first quarter, national statisticians had already reported worrying figures, showing a fall in salaried employment of 2%, equivalent to 499,700 net job losses compared to the end of last year.
This decline had focused on the private sector and had been greatly influenced by the exceptionally high destruction of temporary jobs, which had lost 318,000 jobs in one quarter.
Marked by this decline, "
the largest in the quarterly series of temporary employment
" since 1990, the field had returned to its level of more than ten years ago.
In addition, the decline in employment was seen in all sectors, whether industry (-0.4%), construction (-0.4%), the market sector (-3 , 7%) or non-market services (-0.2%).
In the second quarter, the decline once again affected all areas: industrial employment fell by 0.9%, as did market and non-market services.
Only the construction stabilizes.
Evolution of quarterly job creations since 2011 Le Figaro
A difficult year 2020 on the employment front
This year should be marked by a bleak record for employment, according to the projections of several institutions.
Last June, the Banque de France estimated that at the end of the year, the “
level of employment would be almost 1 million lower than the level reached at the end of 2019
”, reaching 579,000 jobs destroyed in the first half of 2020 and 401,000 in second semester.
For its part, Unédic relied on “
900,000 salaried jobs destroyed
” in one year.
In the last amended finance bill, Bercy estimated the decline in total employment at -2.8%, or 800,000 fewer net jobs over the year.
Despite the rebound in activity since deconfinement, unemployment is expected to skyrocket in the coming months.
The year 2021 should prove to be more promising: the Banque de France forecasts an unemployment rate which would reach a peak of 11.8% in the first half of the year and then gradually drop to 9.7% at the end of 2022. Growth should also rebound nearly 7% next year, after falling 10.3% this year.
Bercy expects a rise in GDP of 8%, "
excluding the effect of the stimulus plan
", but this forecast is not final.
The government hopes for its part that the France Recovery plan will lead to the creation of at least 160,000 jobs next year, in addition to the 200,000 job creations caused by the rebound in growth.
But everything will depend on the health situation and the behavior of the various economic actors, including households, which are still very cautious about their savings.