An early estimate from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the inflation rate in May slowed to 5.4%, compared with 6.3% in April.

According to the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) measure, prices rose by 0.3% during May.

Energy prices fell by just over 3% during the month, though they were still 1.9% higher than in May last year.

Food prices moved up another 0.4% during May, bringing the annual rate of food inflation to 12.5%.

The HICP is different from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the official measure of inflation for Ireland published monthly by the CSO. The CPI release for May 2023 will be published on 8 June.

Earnings up more than 4%

Separate figures from the CSO show that average hourly earnings for those working in professional, scientific, and technical activities — a category that includes the legal sector — were €31.96 in the first quarter of this year.

This represented an increase of just under 1% compared with the same quarter last year.

Average weekly earnings in the category were also up 1% over the year, to €1,107.23.

Average paid hours per week were 34.6 — unchanged from a year earlier.

Across the workforce, the CSO figures show that average weekly earnings of €923.48 in the first quarter of this year were up 4.3% compared with a year earlier.

Hourly earnings increased by 4.1% to €28.55.