The figures were released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its Earnings and Labour Costs report, released quarterly.

The figures showed hourly earnings rose to €27.72 in Q4 2022, an increase of 5.5% the €26.27 average in Q4 2021. Average weekly paid hours were 32.5 in Q4 2022, down by 1.2% from the Q4 2021 value of 32.9.

The job vacancy rate at the end of Q4 2022 was 1.3%, representing a slight decrease from the 1.4% rate at the end of Q4 2021 and down from the 1.6% rate at the end of Q3 2022.

The Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities sector had the highest job vacancy rate at 3.1% in Q4 2022, followed by 2.6% in the Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities.

The sector with the largest annual percentage increase in average weekly earnings was Public Administration & Defence, at 10.5%, representing an average weekly income of €1,117.40.

The second largest increase was in the Information & Communication sector which rose from €1,376.70 to €1,512.16, a 9.8% increase over the year.

The public sector saw average weekly earnings grow by 10.8%, with An Garda Síochána having the highest average weekly earnings in the public sector at €1,512.46.