Average weekly earnings rise by 3.4% in third quarter

Average earnings in the Irish economy are now rising by 3.4 per cent, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The agency’s latest earnings data show average weekly salaries rose to €768.14 in the third quarter of 2019, up from €742.75 a year earlier.

While this is similar to the wage growth seen last year, it is nearly double the 1.9 per cent recorded in 2017 and a multiple of the 0.4 per cent recorded in 2014. Wage pressure in the economy has begun to emerge as the labour market tightens. The CSO said average weekly earnings increased in all 13 sectors of the economy in the year to the third quarter.

The figures showed that IT workers continue to command the biggest salaries while those in the hospitality sector get paid the least.

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Workers in the information and communications sector had average weekly earnings of €1,255.49, followed by workers in the financial, insurance and real estate sector, who earned €1,078.43.

Largest increase

This was nearly 50 per cent above the national average and more than three times the earnings of those in the accommodation and food services sector, who had the lowest weekly earnings of €383.75.

The largest percentage increase was 7.2 per cent in the administrative and support services sector where average weekly earnings rose from €575.02 to €616.44 in the year to the third quarter. The second largest increase was 6.8 per cent in the IT sector which rose from €1,175.92 to €1,255.49 over the year.

Average weekly earnings in the public sector (including semi-State) rose by 1.3 per cent to €972.45 while those in the private sector rose by 3.9 per cent to €708.24.

In the past five years average weekly earnings across all sectors have risen by 13.5 per cent, from €676.58 to €768.14, the figures show.

The CSO's Labour Force Survey, published last week, shows employment in the Irish economy surpassed 2.3 million for the first time in the third quarter.