France total employment by branch: capital goods (persons)
France total employment by branch: capital goods (persons) stood at 323.7 thousand persons in Q2 2026, according to INSEE – Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (BDM). It is one of the indicators in the Payroll employment table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q1 1949 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Payroll employment table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment by branch | |||||||||||
| Total employment (individuals) - Capital goods | 323.7 | 324.6 | 325.5 | 326.1 | 327 | 327 | 326.9 | 326.8 | 326 | 324.8 | |
| Total employment (full-time equivalent) - Capital goods | 318.9 | 319.8 | 320.8 | 321.4 | 322.3 | 322.4 | 322.2 | 322.1 | 321.4 | 320.5 |
Understanding france total employment by branch: capital goods (persons)
Capital goods total employment measures all individual workers, both wage earners and working proprietors, engaged in producing machinery, electrical equipment, computers, optical instruments, and heavy industrial apparatus. Distinct from paid employment metrics, this total count includes self-employed artisans and business owners actively participating in enterprise operations without formal wage contracts. The coverage encompasses the entire durable goods production apparatus while excluding consumer non-durables and raw material processing.
Interpreting capital goods headcounts involves recognizing long investment cycles where orders take extended periods to translate into factory-floor staffing adjustments. Early estimates rely on rapid sample projections that undergo substantial adjustment when exhaustive tax records become available. Year-on-year analysis provides a more reliable signal of structural industrial momentum than quarter-to-quarter changes, which remain vulnerable to temporary supply chain bottlenecks. Researchers should avoid equating this physical worker count with monetary output values, which can fluctuate independently due to equipment pricing shifts.
Frequently asked questions
- What distinguishes total employment from paid employment in this capital goods category?
- Total employment includes self-employed individuals and working owners, whereas paid employment counts exclusively salaried workers.
- Are software engineers working in machinery firms counted here?
- Personnel on the payroll of capital goods manufacturing units are included, regardless of their specific technical or administrative duties.
- Why do capital goods figures lag behind broader macroeconomic recovery phases?
- Industrial machinery purchases require lengthy planning and financing horizons before translating into new factory hiring.