New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that average weekly earnings rose by 2.7% to €688.80 from €670.53 in the third quarter of the year compared to the same time last year.

The preliminary figures show that average hourly earnings rose by 2.1% to €21.46 from €21.02, while average weekly paid hours inched 0.6% higher to 32.1.

Today's figures also show that the job vacancy rate at the end of the third quarter was 1%, up from 0.8% at the same time last year.

The CSO said that average weekly earnings increased in 11 of the 13 sectors in the year to the end of September.

It noted that the largest percentage increase was seen in the administrative and support services sector, with wages there up by 7.6% from €474.85 to €510.76.

However, the construction sector reported the largest percentage sectoral decrease with wages there falling by 1.2% to €698.64 from €707.36.

Average weekly earnings in the private sector rose by 3.6% to €604.50 from €626.07 in the third quarter, while the public sector saw earnings edge 0.1% higher from €904.34 to €905.02.

Meanwhile, the CSO said that the seasonally adjusted average weekly earnings in the second quarter of this year came to €695.86, down 0.2% from the previous quarter.