Wages and salaries are firmly on the rise, as confirmed in the latest Central Statistics Office figures, which show that average weekly earnings in the final quarter of last year were 3.5 per cent ahead of the same period in 2018. Earnings were 1 per cent higher on a quarterly basis. But as ever there are big variations – how can you judge what you are paid and what increase, if any, you received?

Average weekly earnings across the economy are €773.62 per week. This works out at €40,748 for a full year. As this includes some part-time employees, the average full-time wage is higher – the most recent figures show it was just under €48,000 in 2018 and it is probably now somewhere a bit over €49,250.

1. The highest paid sector: Information and Communications This sector has the highest average weekly earnings of €1,241.42 – or just under €63,000 in annual terms. It includes people working in computer programming and consultancy and information services, so this sector has many relatively highly paid employees in some of the big tech multinationals, as well as employees in telecoms, broadcasting and publishing. Salary surveys from recruitment firms show that many positions in this sector in areas of IT development, security, software and mobile development and programme and project management attract salaries of €80,000 plus, with more senior posts well into six figures.

High levels of demand have also pushed up salaries, which have risen by 20 per cent in the past five years – and more than 6 per cent in the last year alone – compared with an average rise in weekly earnings across all sectors of 11.6 per cent since 2014.

Pay restrictions and downsizing in banking may be a factor here, but whatever the reasons, salaries in finance are not rising across the board The second highest sector in terms of earnings is finance, insurance and real estate, at €1,115.02 per week. Interestingly, while people in this sector get paid well, average increases in earnings in recent years have been below the average. Weekly earnings rose by 7.7 per cent over the past five years, compared with the 9.9 per cent average. And in the last year the rise averaged just 1.1 per cent. Pay restrictions and downsizing in banking may be a factor here, but whatever the reasons, salaries in finance are not rising across the board.

2. The highest pay per hour – Education Average hourly earnings across the economy were €24.17 in the final quarter of last year. The sector with the highest hourly earnings was education with a rate of €36.65 per hour, followed by information and communications at €33.90. Education ranks so highly in per pay hour because the average paid hours worked – at 23.6 per week – are well below the national average of 32.4 (remember full-time and some part-time employment is captured here). The education sector includes everything from relatively highly paid university professors to teachers at second and primary level. It also counts pre-school teachers and “educational support activities”, including the likes of administrators in schools and colleges.

3. The biggest increases – Administration and support services The administration and support services sector is probably a decent proxy for overall economic health, with earnings now just above the average and staff employed across many sectors. Average weekly earnings in the sector have risen 23.4 per cent over the past five years, compared to the average of 11.6 per cent for all sectors. The admin and support sector covers all areas of office administration and support, as well as specific areas such as travel agents and employment agencies.

This includes a range of scientific research activities, as well as legal firms, accountants, architects and head office activities for big companies Second highest over the past five years has been the professional and scientific and technical activities sector, where earnings are up 23 per cent. This includes a range of scientific research activities, as well as legal firms, accountants, architects and head office activities for big companies.

Information and communication comes third – and then the relatively lowly paid accommodation and food services sector, where weekly earnings are up 18.9 per cent since 2014. The lowest average increases over the past five years have been in finance, insurance and real estate (4.1 per cent), arts and entertainment(5.3 per cent) and public administration – the civil service – up 5.4 per cent.

Figures tend to bounce about a bit from year to year, but looking at the last year alone, average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 sectors, with accommodation and food services the biggest gainer, showing a rise of 7.5 per cent, a clear sign of rising demand and difficulty in holding on to employees, some of whom may be moving to better paid jobs in other sector. The only sector to record a decline was transport and storage, where there was a 4.1 per cent annual drop. This sector includes air and sea transport as well as warehouses and associated services.

The biggest annual increase in average hourly earnings s was recorded in the arts. entertainment, recreation and other services sector, up 5.8 per cent to €18.72. This is another lower paid sector which may also be coming under pressure to hold on to staff attracted to better paid employment.

4. Boss classes do best Analysis by the Nevin Economic Research Institute highlighted the stronger gains for managers and professionals, as compared to other groups. Average weekly earnings for this group have increased by 20.8 per cent since 2010, compared to 9.9 per cent for clerical, sales and service employees and 11.2 per cent for production, transport and other manual workers. The manager and professional group – at €1,297 per week – earn significantly more than the other two groups, who are both at around €525 per week.

The managers, professionals and associated professionals category is a large group which goes beyond people in management to also include anyone working in what would traditionally have been classified as a “profession”, for example legal and accountancy firms, the health service, teaching, science and so on. This would cover much of the services industry, though many lower paid service workers would be included in clerical, sales and service employees category.

5. What about real gains? The data looks at gross incomes – what people earn before tax. So how do we judge how higher incomes translate into more spending power? We need to take into account changes in the tax burden. These vary from household to household but for most the tax burden increased after 2010 and then stabilised over the last five years – there were some small tax cuts but in recent years but not enough to adjust fully for higher pay. Then there is inflation. Over the past year it was just 1.1-1.2 per cent as measured by the Consumer Price Index, so many will have seen real improvements in spending power.

Many households – for example many renters, people buying houses or using childcare – have experienced much more significant rises in living costs And over the past five years, the Consumer Price Index is up just 1.7 per cent, while earnings are up 11.6 per cent. As we have written in this series before, there are caveats here – significant ones. Many households – for example many renters, people buying houses or using childcare – have experienced much more significant rises in living costs. A lot of the these have particularly hit younger people and families. And a wider literature is now emerging raising more fundamental questions about the use of consumer price measures to judge living standards.