PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - French business added 44,600 jobs in the third quarter of 2010, primarily in the service sector, and the pace of recovery accelerated slightly from previous quarters.
The labour ministry said private sector, non-farm employment rose 0.3 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, up from 0.2 percent in the previous quarters, as the haemorrhage in industry and construction jobs slowed.
The pace of growth in temporary work hires, however, slowed, reports from the statistics office and labour ministry showed.
Private sector employment outside of farming started to grow again on a quarterly basis in the first quarter of this year as France emerged from an international recession.
But the pace remains relatively subdued and economist Nicolas Bouzou of the Asteres business consultancy said the latest figures highlighted the industrial sector's decline as a source of jobs and the need to boost its competitiveness.
"The crisis reinforced a structural shift which shows more than ever the need for the country to move industry further upmarket," Bouzou said.
Temporary recruitment, which took off in the second half of 2009 before the broader jobs market stabilised on the way out of the downturn, was less impressive in the third quarter of 2010, when the quarterly growth rate dipped to 3.0 percent from rates of 5 percent upwards in the four preceding quarters.
Wage growth remained moderate at 0.3 percent in the third quarter and slowed marginally from a rate of 0.2 percent in the preceding quarter, according to the labour ministry.
The number of jobseekers rose by 4,600 in September from its August level to reach 2.697 million, according to the latest data on unemployment, released on Oct. 26. [ID:nLDE69P2E0]
(Reporting by Brian Love; editing by Patrick Graham)