Average hourly earnings for Irish workers rose 3.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, increasing from €25.29 to €26.17, according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.
Similarly, average weekly earnings for workers increased 3.2% in Q3, rising from €838 to €864 in the previous 12 months, as inflation hit 9.2% in October while the average number of weekly paid hours fell 0.3%, from 33.1 to 33.0.
The sector with the largest annual percentage increase in average weekly earnings was the information & communication sector at 10.8%, rising from €1,356 to €1,480, ahead of transportation & storage (8.6%), where earnings rose from €778 to €845.
Average hourly wages have now risen by 11.2% and average weekly wages have increased 12.4% over the past three years. In the past five years, average weekly earnings rose 20.5%, with all sectors seeing increases.
Information & communication experienced the biggest bump in average weekly pay (+36.9%), superseding administrative & support service workers (+27.7%), arts & entertainment (+23.7%) and construction (+23.6%). Public administration & defence (+8.3%) and transportation (+9.1%) saw the smallest five-year pay increases.
Again, information & communication boasted the highest average hourly earnings in the private sector at €39.69, five euro more than the financial & real estate sector (€34.68), while accommodation & food (€15.28) and arts & entertainment (€19.62) had the lowest.
In the public sector, average weekly earnings rose 0.6% year-on-year, from €1,050 to €1,056, with An Garda Síochána recording the highest average weekly earnings at €1,366, and workers in education recording the highest average hourly earnings at €44.12.
Average hourly 'other labour costs" rose 60.7% from €2.57 to €4.13 as businesses continued without the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, payments under which had been recorded as subsidies and refunds, and this deducted from labour costs.
The job vacancy was stable year-on-year at 1.5%, although it declined from 1.6% at the end of Q2, although job vacancies were higher in the professional, scientific and technical activities (3.8%) and financial, insurance and real estate activities (2.8%) sectors.
(Pic: Getty Images)
