Salaried employment is suffering from the reduction in apprenticeship subsidies

According to the provisional estimate of the National Institute of Statistics, a total of 60.600 jobs were destroyed in the quarter, while the year-on-year losses amount to 112.100 jobs (-0,5%).

Compared to the same quarter of 2024, the figures for the third quarter mark the fourth consecutive quarter of decline "after almost four years of increase", notes INSEE.

But despite this reversal in the labor market, salaried employment in France "still far exceeds its pre-health crisis level (end of 2019), by 5,2%" or one million additional jobs.

Two-thirds of the decline in the third quarter is due to the decrease in work-study contracts, nine out of ten of which are apprenticeship contracts.

"This is a decline that was expected, and which follows the reduction in aid for hiring apprentices in the private sector, which took place in February 2025, and whose effects are more massive in September, because apprenticeship starts are very concentrated" at the beginning of the school year, Yves Jauneau, head of the Synthesis and Labour Market Outlook division at INSEE, explained to AFP.

The year 2025 was marked by a decrease in aid for hiring an apprentice, which fell to 5.000 euros for SMEs and to 2.000 euros for larger companies, compared to 6.000 euros previously.

Taking advantage of public aid, the number of apprentices in France has increased from 430.000 in 2017 to more than one million in 2023, while apprenticeships have massively opened up to higher education students and the service sector.

"Anticipated decline"

"The decline in the number of salaried jobs remains moderate and was anticipated, in an uncertain economic and political context, particularly for apprenticeships," the Ministry of Labour said in a message to AFP.

"The overall situation remains stable and reflects the strength of our labor market, particularly in industry," the ministry said, noting that job losses in this sector were limited to 3.200 in the third quarter, or -0,1%.

The market services sector accounts for the largest share of the decline in employment levels, with 38.300 jobs lost, or -0,3%, while agriculture suffered proportionally the most with -1,6%, or 5.000 fewer jobs.

These figures indicate "a productivity catch-up that may be faster than anticipated," explains Eric Heyer, director of the Analysis and Forecasting department at OFCE.

Given that the growth of the market sector was 0,6% in the third quarter, if employment falls by 0,3%, this means that "over one quarter, employee productivity has increased by 0,9%, which is gigantic", calculates the economist, who believes that the French economy is on a trajectory of 1,2% to 1,3% annual productivity gains.

"We're going to have accelerating productivity with decelerating activity. This can only lead to job losses," especially in a context of reduced public employment assistance, predicts Eric Heyer, who also notes a "positive point: these productivity gains will allow companies to distribute purchasing power to those who remain in place."

The number of unemployed registered with France Travail increased by 1,6% in the third quarter, figures which however take into account the automatic registration of RSA beneficiaries and fewer deregistrations due to a new sanctions regime.