Public sector wages rise faster than private sector

Public sector wage increases and the jobs boom in construction may be driving an outsized increase in pay and earnings, the latest official figures suggest.

According to the CSO, average weekly earnings for public and private workers rose 1.4% in the first three months of the year from the same period in 2016, at a time when the annual consumer price index rose by less than 1%.

The figures also showed that average weekly earnings rose in private firms by an average 1.5% in the year but increased across the public sector, including jobs in semi-state companies, by 1.6%.