Average weekly earnings of workers rose as Covid-19 struck

The average weekly earnings of workers in the State increased by 2.9 per cent between the first and second quarter of this year, but there was a 13.5 per cent reduction in the number of active jobs as the Covid-19 pandemic crippled the economy, a new report from the Central Statistics Office shows.

The Labour Market Insight Bulletin, published on Tuesday, is the second in a series of reports designed to provide “high-level supplementary labour market analysis” alongside standard labour market outputs and metrics.

The bulletin shows that between the first and second quarter, the number of jobs fell by 13.5 per cent with all economic sectors experiencing decreases as the Irish economy ground to a halt due to lockdown measures introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Jobs

The sectors showing the largest percentage reduction in jobs were the accommodation and food services sector (-61.2 per cent) and the arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector (-39.3 per cent).

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The economic sectors with the smallest percentage decrease in jobs were the industry sector (-3 per cent), the human health and social work activities sector (-4 per cent) and the information and communication sector (-4.2 per cent).

Across the board, the average weekly pay increased by 2.9 per cent. This analysis includes the State’s Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) payments where applicable, but does not include the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

The CSO pointed out that when considering the change in earnings, it should be noted that the composition of the labour market in the second quarter was very different to its composition in the first, which may impact changes in average weekly earnings in any given sector.

The figures showed that IT workers continue to command the biggest salaries while those in the hospitality sector get paid the least.

Workers in the information and communications sector had average weekly earnings of €1,251 followed by workers in the financial, insurance and real estate sector, who earned €1,168.

This was nearly 50 per cent above the national average and more than three times the earnings of those in the accommodation and food services sector, who had the lowest weekly earnings of €405.

Accommodation and food services workers enjoyed the second biggest bounce in wages with average earnings up 10.7 per cent year on year. This was eclipsed only by those in arts and entertainment whose average earnings rose by 12.7 per cent.

Pay

The largest quarterly percentage decreases in average weekly pay were seen in the construction sector (-6.5 per cent) and the financial, insurance and real estate sector (-6.3 per cent).

The proportion of jobs supported by the TWSS in the second quarter varied across the sectors, with the accommodation and food services sector (61 per cent) and the construction sector (54.2 per cent) having the highest proportions.

Elsewhere, the public administration and defence sector (0.3 per cent) had the lowest proportion.

In terms of earnings, TWSS payments accounted for 8.5 per cent of total earnings across all sectors in the second quarter.

In the accommodation and food services sector, TWSS payments represented 51.8 per cent of total earnings, while in the construction sector and the arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector the proportions were 24.2 per cent and 24.1 per cent respectively.