Earnings and labour costs continue to increase

The average weekly earnings per employee now stands at €963.17. 

The average employee’s hourly earnings has increased by over 5% in the year to the end of June while other labour costs increased by over 10%, data from the Central Statistics Office shows (CSO).

Between April and June, the average hourly earnings grew on an annual basis by 5.4% to €29.71. This equates to weekly earnings of €963.17 compared to €911.74 during the same period last year.

The average weekly paid hours stood at 32.4 during this period up from 32.3.

The average weekly earnings rose across all 13 economic sectors. The largest annual increase was seen in the construction sector, rising 11.8% to €1,006, followed by administrative and support services, up 7% to €764. 

In addition to the increasing employee earnings, the average hourly other labour costs grew by 10.1% to €5.22 from €4.74 last year while average hourly total labour costs grew by 6.1% in the same period.

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The sector with the highest average hourly total labour costs was the information and communication sector at €59.64. The lowest average total labour costs were in the accommodation and food service activities sector, which recorded a rate of €18.76.

On January 1 this year, a raft of new employment measures came into effect with the national minimum wage increasing by €1.40 to €12.70 an hour and statutory sick leave also increased from three days to five days. Employer PRSI is also set to increase in October.

The job vacancy rate during the three month period stood at 1.1% which is down slightly from 1.3% last year.