The minimum wage will increase on October 1 after an acceleration in inflation

The minimum wage will see an automatic increase on 1^er October, due to a 2.2% increase in the price index serving as a basis for possible revaluations, according to the figure published on Wednesday September 15 by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), which also confirms an acceleration of 1.9% in inflation in August over one year.

“This rise in inflation results in particular from the rebound in the prices of manufactured products (+ 1.1% after – 1%) “, those of energy, food and services, explains INSEE.

“The consumer price index excluding tobacco for households in the first quintile of the distribution of living standards (…) is up by 2.2% ” compared to November 2020, the reference month during the last revaluation of the minimum wage on 1^er last January, also adds INSEE.

Go beyond the automatic increase

This development opens the way to an increase in the minimum wage, since, according to the labor code, an increase of at least 2% must lead to an increase in the minimum wage on 1^er October. The exact amount of the minimum wage adjusted to 1^er October should be communicated during the day by the Ministry of Labor.

The minimum wage had been increased by 0.99% in the 1^er January to reach 1,554.58 euros gross per month, an increase of 15 euros. This increase, which corresponded to an automatic revaluation of the minimum wage, brought the gross hourly amount to 10.25 euros.

Each year, some unions, such as the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) which demands a minimum wage of 1,800 euros, ask the government to go beyond the automatic increase, but the last “Boost” dates back to July 2012, the day after the election of Socialist President François Hollande.

The governments that followed refrained from any one-off increase, arguing that it would hurt the employment of the less skilled. In detail, the rise in prices for food (+ 1.3%), energy (+ 12.7%) and services (+ 0.7%) continued in August.

The harmonized consumer price index (HICP), which serves as a basis for comparison at European level, has increased by 2.4% over one year, after + 1.5% in July. Over one month, it rose 0.7% after + 0.1% the previous month.