The level of industrial employment fell by nearly 7,000 in the year to December, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The seasonally adjusted figure for December last was 239,200, up by 200 on September, but down 6,900 compared with a year earlier.
Preliminary estimates of industrial earnings for December show that the average weekly earnings of industrial workers in all industries increased by 4.8 per cent when compared with December 2003.
Industrial hourly earnings rose by 5.8 per cent; average hours worked decreased by 1 per cent for the same period.