Average weekly earnings up over 5% in the last year 

Earnings reached €1,015.43 in the year to the end of June, CSO data shows

The largest increase in average weekly earnings was seen in the arts, entertainment, recreation, and other service activities sector, up 11.4%

Stable job vacancy rates and growing employment sees the average weekly earnings for Irish workers increase by over 5% in the year to the end of June, reaching €1,015.43, new data from the Central Statistics Office shows.

Between April and June last year, the average weekly earnings stood at €964.54.

CSO statistician Dr Niall O’Sullivan said the increase in the average earnings was being driven by a number of factors, including “a stable job vacancy rate for the past 18 months, as well as annual employment growth of 2.3%”.

The average weekly wage increased across all sectors, with the largest increase being seen in the arts, entertainment, recreation, and other service activities sector, up 11.4%. The next largest increase was in the professional, scientific, and technical activities sector, up 7.2%.

The average number of weekly paid hours worked increased by 0.9% to 32.7 hours during the second quarter.

Hourly total labour costs increased by 3.6% to an average of €36.41. This means total hourly labour costs have increased by 17% over the three years to the end of June.

The sector with the highest average hourly total labour costs was in the information and communication sector, which includes the tech sector, at €56.15, while the lowest average total labour costs were in the accommodation and food service activities sector, which recorded a rate of €19.70.

The job vacancy rate during the quarter, which measures job vacancies on the last working day of the quarter, was 1.3%, which was unchanged from the end of March and the end of June last year.

There were 29,500 job vacancies as of the end of June.

The public administration and defence sector had the highest job vacancy rate at 4.8% during the second quarter, followed by 2.2% in the financial and real estate sector.