Average weekly earnings rise by 5.6% as workers seek real wage catch-up

Average earnings for employees in the Irish economy rose by 5.6 per cent over the past year to €963.17 a week in the second quarter. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 5.4 per cent to €29.71 during the same period.
The increases were more elevated than previous readouts and come amid concern that higher levels of inflation, particularly in the services sector, are being driven by wage demands as workers seek compensation for the fall-off in real earnings during the recent inflationary surge.
European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers are worried that inflation linked to wage growth might be more difficult to restrain.
Frankfurt is still, however, expected to cut interest rates by a further 0.25 of a percentage point next month as the headline rate of inflation across the bloc continues to ease.
The latest earnings and labour costs data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicated that average hourly labour costs grew by 6.1 per cent to €34.93 on an annual basis in the second quarter.
The CSO’s figures confirmed that the best-paid workers in the State were once again those in the information and communication [technology] sector, with average weekly earnings of €1,660.99, up 6.8 per cent on an annual basis, and more than two-thirds in advance of the national average.
Workers in the construction sector saw their average weekly earnings rise by 11.8 per cent to €1,006.22 while employees in the arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector saw their average weekly earnings rise by 8.9 per cent to €648.95.
Workers in the accommodation and food services sector were the worst paid in the State, with average weekly earnings of €451.93, but the sector includes many part-time staff, bringing the average down.
The figures also showed that the job vacancy rate, a measure of slack in the labour market, was 1.1 per cent in the second quarter, lower than the 1.3 per cent recorded previously. Average hourly earnings rose by 5.4% to €29.71 in Q2 2024, from €28.19 in Q2 2023.