Key Findings

• Between Quarter 3 (Q3) and Quarter 4 (Q4) 2020, the number of active employments decreased by 1.1%

• The sector showing the largest increase in employments from Q3 to Q4 was the Education sector (9.8%)

• The largest decreases in active employments from Q3 to Q4 were in the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (-9.7%) and the Accommodation & food services sector (-9.2%)

• Between Quarter 1 (Q1) and Q4 2020, the number of active employments decreased by 5.6%

• The number of active employments decreased in 10 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 and Q4 with the largest rate of decline recorded in the Accommodation & food services sector (-26.3%)

• The largest increase in active employments between Q1 and Q4 was in the Education sector (1.6%)

• Average weekly earnings, including Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments where applicable, increased by 7.3% across all employments between Q3 and Q4 2020

• The sector showing the largest quarterly percentage increase in average weekly earnings between Q3 and Q4 was the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (20.6%) 

• Average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 and Q4 with the largest rates of increase recorded in the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (14.4%), the Construction sector (13.9%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (13.7%)

• For employments that were active in both Q1 and Q4, average weekly earnings increased by 3.7%, while employments that were active in both Q3 and Q4 saw average weekly earnings increase by 8.2% across all sectors

Introduction

This bulletin is part of a series of outputs designed to provide high-level supplementary labour market analysis to users alongside the standard labour market outputs and metrics. The data used is sourced from administrative datasets, namely Revenue's employee level tax data (PMOD) as well as data provided from Revenue in relation to the TWSS. This bulletin is specifically designed to complement the standard Earnings & Labour Costs (ELC) results for Q4 2020. 

The analysis in this bulletin relates to those employees working in enterprises with three or more employees in the NACE Rev 2 (see background notes) Industrial Sectors B–S inclusive.

Please Note: The data included in this bulletin are subject to revision as more information relating to employments and earnings for Q4 2020 are lodged by employers with the Revenue Commissioners and the data is subsequently made available to the CSO for statistical analysis purposes.

Percentage change in employment 

Comparing Q3 and Q4, the number of active employments decreased by 1.1%. The number of active employments decreased in six of the 13 economic sectors between Q3 and Q4. The largest decreases were recorded in the Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector (-9.7%) and the Accommodation & food service sector (-9.2%). See Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

The number of active employments increased in seven of the 13 economic sectors between Q3 and Q4. The largest rate of increase was recorded in the Education sector (9.8%). See Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

Comparing Q1 and Q4, the number of active employments decreased by 5.6%. A decrease of 13.5% between Q1 and Q2 was followed by an increase in active employments of 10.3% between Q2 and Q3 and a decrease in active employments of 1.1% between Q3 and Q4. See Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

The number of active employments decreased in 10 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 and Q4. The largest rate of decrease was recorded in the Accommodation & food service sector (-26.3%). The number of active employments increased in three of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 and Q4. The largest increase was in the Education sector which recorded an increase of 1.6% between Q1 and Q4. See Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

Note: An active employment is one that was active at any point in the quarter, not active throughout the quarter.

Percentage change in earnings 

When considering the change in earnings, it should be noted that there may be a compositional effect due to the significant changes in the number of active employments in certain sectors. The composition of the labour market in Q4 2020 was very different to the composition of the labour market in previous quarters, with significant changes in the number of employments in certain sectors across the three quarters of 2020. The changes in average weekly earnings in any sector may be impacted to some degree by those employments that have left/joined the sector having lower/higher average earnings than those employments that remained in the sector in quarters being analysed.

Any payments related to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme are not included in this analysis. Such payments are paid by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to a person who has lost income from employment and where no attachment in the form of an employment contract is maintained between the employer and employee. Payments related to the TWSS and EWSS have been included in earnings for this analysis.

Earnings included in this analysis are gross earnings, before deductions such as income tax, and include any taxable benefit in kind.

Between Q3 and Q4, average weekly earnings increased by 7.3% across all employments. Average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 economic sectors between Q3 and Q4. The largest rate of increase was recorded in the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (20.6%). The Education sector was the only sector to show a decrease in average weekly earnings (-0.9%) between Q3 and Q4. See Table 2 and Figures 3 and 4.

Comparing Q1 and Q4, average weekly earnings increased by 6.9% across all employments. An increase of 2.9% between Q1 and Q2 was followed by a decrease in average weekly earnings of 3.1% between Q2 and Q3 and an increase of 7.3% between Q3 and Q4. Average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 and Q4. The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (14.4%), the Construction sector (13.9%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (13.7%). Financial, insurance & real estate (-1.6%) was the only sector to show a decrease in average weekly earnings between Q1 and Q4. See Table 2 and Figures 3 and 4.

Percentage change in earnings for employments active in more than one quarter

To provide further context, and taking into consideration the compositional effect mentioned above, we have also prepared analysis of earnings for employments that were active in more than one quarter. For each set of quarters being analysed, a matched dataset was created of all employments that were active in both quarters i.e.;

• Q1 Vs Q4: employments that were active in both Q1 2020 and Q4 2020
• Q1 Vs Q2: employments that were active in both Q1 2020 and Q2 2020
• Q2 Vs Q3: employments that were active in both Q2 2020 and Q3 2020
• Q3 Vs Q4: employments that were active in both Q3 2020 and Q4 2020

For employments that were active in both Q3 and Q4, average weekly earnings increased by 8.2%. Average weekly earnings increased in all 13 economic sectors between Q3 and Q4. The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (18.2%), the Industry sector (12.9%) and the Transportation & storage sector (12.6%). See Table 3 and Figures 5 and 6.

For employments that were active in both Q1 and Q4, average weekly earnings increased by 3.7%. Average weekly earnings increased in 11 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 and Q4. The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Construction sector (13.8%) and the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (10.3%).  Average weekly earnings decreased in the Administrative & support services sector (-6.3%) and the Financial, insurance & real estate sector (-3.0%). See Table 3 and Figures 5 and 6.

Background Notes

Earnings & Labour Costs (ELC)

The ELC, which is being published today with Preliminary results for Q4 2020 and Final results for Q3 2020, is the official source of short-term earnings and labour cost estimates for Ireland. The ELC release is published based on data collected by the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS). The EHECS collects data from enterprises with three or more employees in the NACE Rev 2 Industrial Sectors B–S inclusive.

Preliminary ELC estimates for Q4 2020 have been negatively impacted by lower than usual response rates and the difficulties faced by enterprises in accessing and sending us the required data. The sectors particularly impacted by low rates of survey response were Construction, Transportation & storage and Accommodation & food services sectors. Caution is therefore advised in relation to the preliminary estimates published today. Please see the Technical Note – Impact of COVID-19 on the Earnings and Labour Costs release - updated Quarter 4 2020 for more information.

Labour Force Survey (LFS)

The LFS, which was published on 25 February for Q4 2020, is the official source of employment estimates for Ireland. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is obliged to follow specific methodology for the LFS including how a person is classified as employed, unemployed or economically inactive (not in the labour force) using the International Labour Organization concepts and definitions. The International Labour Organization criteria do not fully capture the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market – see Information Note on the implications of COVID-19 on the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The Information Note highlights the challenges in the application of the ILO concepts following the introduction of the COVID-19 income support payments.

COVID-19 income support schemes

The CSO has been working with and will continue to collaborate with both the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and the Revenue Commissioners to meet user needs for availability of detailed aggregates for the recipients of both the PUP and the TWSS/ EWSS respectively. Tables providing breakdowns of the numbers benefitting from the PUP and the TWSS and the numbers of persons on the Live Register for each week since March 2020 by sex, age group, county and nationality grouping are available at the following link: PxStat. This link also contains tables for the corresponding numbers included on the Live Register for each week as well as a total number of persons with overlaps removed who are either on the Live Register for each week or who were benefitting from either the PUP or the TWSS up to 31 August 2020.

The CSO has not yet disseminated EWSS data but will continue to work with the Revenue Commissioners to make this data available to users as soon as possible. The final update to the number of persons benefitting from the TWSS is included in the PxStat tables linked above. No further TWSS updates will be provided given that the TWSS scheme is now closed. 

Nace Classification

NACE Rev.2 is the latest classification system for economic activities. See NaceCoder.

For further COVID-19 related information go to the CSO COVID-19 Information Hub

Please Note: The Labour Market and Earnings Division of the CSO is compiling a list of users who have registered to be kept informed in relation to relevant announcements from the CSO relating to Labour Market and Earnings, including publication plans from the Division. If you haven't already done so you can register your email address by sending an email to labour@cso.ie asking to be included on this user list.