Average hourly earnings, average weekly paid hours, and the job vacancy rate all increased in the year to Q3 2021, according to the CSO.

Average weekly earnings were €837.42 in Q3 2021, an increase of 5.4% from €794.89 in Q3 2020.

And average hourly earnings increased by 3.8% to €25.31 (from €24.38 in Q3 2020), while average weekly paid hours increased by 1.5% to 33.1 (from 32.6 in Q3 2020).

The job-vacancy rate at the end of Q3 2021 was 1.5%, up from 1.2% at the end of Q2 2021 –  and up from 0.8% at the end of Q3 2020.

In the accommodation and food-services sector, Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments represented 51.6% of total earnings.

Construction

The proportion in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector was 22.7%, while in the transportation-and-storage sector it was 10.5%, and in construction it was 6.0%, the figures show.

Statistician Louise Egan said that, within economic sectors, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues to be experienced very differently.

“Preliminary estimates for Q3 2021 show average hourly earnings increased on an annual basis by 3.8% to €25.31, while average weekly paid hours increased by 1.5% to 33.1 hours (from 32.6 in Q3 2020).

“Average weekly earnings were €837.42, an increase of 5.4% compared with €794.89 in Q3 2020. The job vacancy rate in Q3 2021, which measures job vacancies on the last working day of the quarter, was 1.5% – up from 1.2% at the end of Q2 2021, and up from 0.8% at the end of Q3 2020.”

Key findings from the labour market insight bulletin, which draws on Revenue data, include an increase in the number of active areas of employment in Q3 2021 when compared with Q2 2021.

The sectors showing the largest percentage increase in employment over the quarter were accommodation-and-food services (38.4%), and arts, entertainment and recreation (16.1%).

Average weekly pay (including EWSS where applicable) decreased by 4% across all areas of employment between Q2 2021 and Q3 2021.

Sectoral differentiation

The sectors showing the largest quarterly percentage decrease in average weekly pay were the financial, insurance and real estate sector (-8.2%), and the administrative and support-services sector (-7.9%).

For areas of employment that were active in both Q2 2021 and Q3 2021, average weekly earnings increased by 0.7%, with changes by sector ranging from a decrease of -4.2% in the administrative-and-support-services sector, to an increase of 9.1% in the accommodation-and-food-services sector.

The proportion of employment supported by the EWSS in Q3 2021 varied, with accommodation-and-food services (75.6%), and arts, entertainment and recreation (44.7%) having the highest levels. The public-administration and defence sector (0.3%) had the lowest.

EWSS payments accounted for 4.7% of total earnings across all sectors in Q3 2021.