In the first quarter of 2024, the wage bill paid by employers in the non-agricultural market sector (excluding services to households) increased significantly more than the number of hours paid by employers, so that hourly wages increased. Nevertheless, wage growth decreased compared to the previous quarter, in line with the decline in inflation. The profile of wage growth was also marked by the Value Sharing Premium (PPV) for which payments have dramatically fallen at the start of 2024 (in particular, the payments of this premium have been taxed since 1st January 2024): €490 million were paid to employees in the first quarter of 2024, much less than in the previous quarter (€2.3 billion) and than in the first quarter of 2023 (€1.2 billion).

In addition, the aid for hiring a young worker with a sandwich course contract, launched at the end of July 2020, contributed to labour cost variations until the first quarter of 2024. From January 2023, employers are eligible, under certain conditions, for aid of up to €6,000.

Year-on-year, hourly wages slowed down again in the non-agricultural market sector (excluding services to households): +2.8% in the first quarter of 2024, after +3.1% in the previous quarter. This was significantly less than its previous peak reached at the end of 2022 (+5.3%). This slowdown, in a context of lower inflation, was partly due to the lower payment of PPV over a year. In the first quarter, hourly wages were slightly more dynamic in industry (+3.1%) than in services (+2.7%) and construction (+2.1%).

Year-on-year, the hourly labour costs (wages and salaries, contributions, taxes net of subsidies) in the non-agricultural market sector (excluding services to households) increased by 3.0% in the first quarter of 2024, after +3.4% in the previous quarter. The difference in dynamism with hourly wages in the first quarter of 2024 was largely due to the profile of PPV payments, which is not subject to social security contributions: the year-on-year fall in bonus payments has had a greater impact on year-on-year wage growth than on labour cost growth.