(Reuters) – The private sector in France continued to create jobs in the first quarter of this year, for the fifth consecutive quarter, statistics released by the Ministry of Labor showed on Thursday.
The number of employment contracts signed in the private sector (excluding temporary work, agriculture and individual employers) reached 6,245,900, an increase of 1.1%, after +1.0% in the previous quarter. Hiring is thus 2.0% higher than its level in the fourth quarter of 2019, the last before the COVID-19 crisis.
This growth is explained by the joint increases in hiring in industry (+3.2%), in construction (+2.7%) and in services (+1.0%), specifies the Direction of the coordination of research, studies and statistics (Dares) of the ministry.
The three main sectors of activity exceeded their pre-crisis level of hiring, with respective increases of 9.8%, 10.4% and 1.5% compared to the end of 2019.
The number of permanent contracts (CDI) increased by 1.5% in the first quarter, and fixed-term contracts (CDD) followed the trend with an increase of 1.0% over the period. Compared to 2019, hirings on permanent contracts are up by 18.5%, while fixed-term contracts are down 1.0%.
The end of contracts continued to increase (+0.2%) in the first quarter of 2022, specifies the Dares, slightly exceeding their pre-crisis level (+0.3% against +2.1% in the previous quarter).
(Dina Kartit report, edited by Marc Angrand)
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