Despite sluggish growth, employment improves
It's the only bright spot in the dark landscape cyclical French: the labor market continued to regain strength. In the second quarter, 68,300 jobs were created in the nonprofit sector. This is 10,000 more than in the first quarter.
The tertiary sector contributes almost exclusively to these creations (57,200 jobs), the industry confirms his recovery: 6600 jobs were created in this sector, according to Insee. This is his second consecutive quarter of growth. "This sector lost jobs every quarter since 2001," says INSEE.
Only government minister to be able to celebrate yesterday, Xavier Bertrand (Labour, Employment, Health) welcomed that "210,600 jobs a year (have) been created." He sees "a positive signal about the vitality of the real economy." This movement is all the more surprising that growth has been sluggish in recent months.
"You have to look at the figure of 0% over the period issued yesterday: considering the annual growth and relating to the last four quarters, we see that the quarterly growth rate is invariably French 0.4%, says Frédéric Gonand, associate professor of economics at Paris Dauphine. This shows that even with 1.6% annual rate, which corresponds to its potential growth, France is creating jobs. "
According to Dares, the index of the basic monthly wage (SMB) increased by 0.6% in the second quarter, representing an increase of 2.1% over one year. This significant increase of basic wages does not mean a sharp increase in the purchasing power of households. In the second quarter, prices rose 0.5% year on year and they operate around 2%.The purchasing power has improved very little, which explains the weakness of consumption in recent months.
Disinflation energy
But-and this is another rare good news in the farm figures released yesterday, according to Insee, the consumer prices fell by 0.4% in July. A decline mainly due balances but also by the expansion of energy prices. Under these conditions, if the job market continues to grow at the same pace as earlier this year, the disposable income of households could improve a little.
"Disinflation energy currently underway should provide some support the purchasing power of households," say economists at Natixis.The main pillar of the French economy will be a little stronger in the second half, provided that the fiscal savings provided by the government do not result in a tax grab too much, the experts continue to Natixis.
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