Average earnings plummet by 4 per cent in Ireland

Average weekly earnings in Ireland fell by 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to March 2010, going from €710 per week last year to €683 per week this year, according to statistics on earnings and labour costs released by the Central Statistics Office last week. However, the drop in average hourly earnings, which is considered a more accurate measurement of wage trends, recorded a less spectacular drop, going from €22.44 per hour in March 2009 to €22.10 in March 2010 – a drop of 1.5 per cent.