The average weekly wage for Irish workers increased by an average of 5.3% year-on-year in the third quarter, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

Employees in Ireland now earned an average of €955.49 per week in Q3, up nearly €50 from €907.10 during the same period last year.

Average hourly earnings increased at a slightly slower annual rate (+4.7%) while rising from €27.84 o €29.14 in Q3 while weekly paid hours increased marginally (+0.6%) from 32.6 to 32.8.

Over five years from Q3 2019,  average weekly earnings rose by 24.2% and average hourly earnings increased 23.8% from €23.54 to €29.14 while average paid hours increased 0.3% from 32.7 to 32.8 hours.

 “Average earnings in the economy continue to increase year on year, driven by a number of factors, including a stable job vacancy rate for the past 18 months as well as annual employment growth of 3.7% according to the latest CSO Labour Force Survey," said Louise Egan, staistician in the earnings analysis division of the CSO. 

"Preliminary estimates for July, August, and September (Q3) 2024 show average weekly earnings were €955.49, up 5.3% compared with €907.10 in Q3 2023."

Average weekly earnings increased across all 13 economic sectors as defined by the CSO.

The largest increases were recorded in information & communication (+8.7% to €1,656.40) and transportation & storage (+7.7% to €911.06).

In the public sector, average weekly earnings increased 4.4% from €1,123.81 to €1,173.07.

An Garda Síochána had the highest average weekly earnings and average weekly paid hours in Q3 2024 in the public sector at €1,587.54 and 43.1 hours respectively. The highest average hourly earnings in this period were €49.35 in the education sector.

"Average hourly other labour costs rose by 6.9% across all economic sectors to €4.98 in Q3 2024 from €4.66 in Q3 2023, while average hourly total labour costs grew by 5.0% in the same period," said Egan.

"The sector with the highest average hourly total labour costs in Q3 2024 was the information & communication sector at €58.64. The lowest average total labour costs were in the accommodation & food service activities sector, which recorded a rate of €18.69."

The job vacancy rate, which measures the number of job vacancies on the last day of the quarter, was 1.2% compared to 1.3% in Q2.