Wages in enterprises in 2008: a significant increase offset by inflation

In 2008, a full-time employee in the private and semi-public sector earned 2,753 euros on average per month gross and 2,069 euros net after all deductions at source, an increase of 3.6% in current euros on 2007. Given the sharp rise in consumer prices (2.8% in 2008), the average net wage therefore increased by 0.7% between 2007 and 2008 in constant euros, or 1.1 points less than between 2006 and 2007. Wage ranges remained stable overall: +0.8% for the first decile, +0.9% for the median and +0.5% for the last decile. Due to the economic crisis, the structure of private sector employment changed in 2008: fewer manual labourers, particularly unskilled manual labourers, and more women. Taking these effects into account, the net average wage on a like-for-like basis only increased by 0.1% in constant euros.