Key Findings

• Between Quarter 4 (Q4) 2020 and Quarter 1 (Q1) 2021, the number of active employments decreased by 8.6%

• The largest decreases in active employments from Q4 2020 to Q1 2021 were in the Accommodation & food service sector (-39.3%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (-29.0%)

• Between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, the number of active employments decreased by 12.4%

• The number of active employments decreased in all of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021 with the largest rates of decline recorded in the Accommodation & food service sector (-54.9%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (-40.9%)

• Average weekly earnings, including Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments where applicable, increased by 4.8% across all employments between Q4 2020 to Q1 2021

• The sector showing the largest quarterly percentage increase in average weekly earnings between Q4 2020 to Q1 2021 was the Financial, insurance & real estate sector (14.4%)

• Average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021 with the largest rates of increase recorded in the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (30.1%) and the Accommodation & food service sector (17.2%)

• For employments that were active in both Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, average weekly earnings increased by 6.5%, while employments that were active in both Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 saw average weekly earnings increase by 3.8% across all sectors

• In Q1 2021, 17.3% of active employments in NACE sectors B-S were directly supported by the EWSS

• The proportion of employments supported by the EWSS in Q1 2021 varied across the sectors with the Accommodation & food services sector (71.5%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (39.5%) having the highest proportions and the Public administration & defence sector (0.3%) having the lowest proportion

• EWSS payments accounted for 4.9% of total earnings across all sectors (B-S) in Q1 2021

• In Q1 2021, in the Accommodation & food services sector EWSS payments represented 49.5% of total earnings, while in the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector, the Construction sector and the Transportation & storage sector the proportions were 17.0%, 13.1% and 12.9% respectively

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), which includes information in relation to the EWSS, 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 Q1 2021. 

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 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 Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, the number of active employments decreased by 8.6%. The number of active employments decreased in all of the 13 economic sectors between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021. The largest decreases were recorded in the Accommodation & food service sector (-39.3%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (-29.0%). See Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

Comparing Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, the number of active employments decreased by 12.4%. A decrease of 13.8% between Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 was followed by increases in active employments of 10.6% and 0.6% in Q3 2020 and Q4 2020 respectively, and a decrease in active employments of 8.6% in Q1 2021. See Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2.

The number of active employments decreased in all of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. The largest decreases were recorded in the Accommodation & food service sector (-54.9%) and the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (-40.9%). 

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 Q1 2021 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 various quarters analysed in this Bulletin. 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 Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, average weekly earnings increased by 4.8% across all employments. Average weekly earnings increased in 8 of the 13 economic sectors between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021. The largest rate of increase was recorded in the Financial, insurance & real estate sector (14.4%). The largest decreases were recorded in the Professional, scientific & technical activities sector (-7.7%) and the Construction sector (-6.8%). See Table 2 and Figures 3 and 4.

Comparing Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, average weekly earnings increased by 12.2% across all employments. An increase of 3.3% between Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 was followed by a decrease in average weekly earnings of 4.3% in Q3 2020 and increases of 8.3% and 4.8% in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 respectively.

Average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector (30.1%) and the Accommodation & food service sector (17.2%). Transportation & storage (-0.5%) was the only sector to show a decrease in average weekly earnings between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. 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 2020 Vs Q1 2021: employments that were active in both Q1 2020 and Q1 2021
• Q1 2020 Vs Q2 2020: employments that were active in both Q1 2020 and Q2 2020
• Q2 2020 Vs Q3 2020: employments that were active in both Q2 2020 and Q3 2020
• Q3 2020 Vs Q4 2020: employments that were active in both Q3 2020 and Q4 2020
• Q4 2020 Vs Q1 2021: employments that were active in both Q4 2020 and Q1 2021

For employments that were active in both Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, average weekly earnings increased by 3.8%. Average weekly earnings increased in 7 of the 13 economic sectors between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021. The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Financial, insurance & real estate sector (21.1%) and the Information & communication sector (13.0%). The largest decrease was recorded in the Construction sector (-8.9%). See Table 3 and Figures 5 and 6.

For employments that were active in both Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, average weekly earnings increased by 6.5%. Average weekly earnings increased in 11 of the 13 economic sectors between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. The largest rates of increase were recorded in the Information & communication sector (18.3%) and the Financial, insurance & real estate sector (9.8%).  Average weekly earnings decreased in the Transportation & storage sector (-3.0%) and the Accommodation & food service sector (-2.1%). See Table 3 and Figures 5 and 6.

Impact of Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme

In Q1 2021 17.3% of active employments were directly supported by the EWSS. The sectors with the highest proportion of employments supported by the EWSS were Accommodation & food services (71.5%), Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities (39.5%), Transportation & storage (36.0%) and Construction (35.7%).

Comparing Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, the proportion of employments supported by EWSS increased from 16.4% to 17.3% across all sectors. The sector with the largest increase was Construction where the proportion of employments supported increased from 20.6% in Q4 2020 to 35.7% in Q1 2021.

 

In terms of earnings, EWSS payments accounted for 4.9% of total earnings across all sectors in Q1 2021. Again this varied by sector; in the Accommodation & food services sector EWSS payments represented 49.5% of total earnings, while in the Arts, entertainment, recreation & other service activities sector, the Construction sector and the Transportation & storage sector the proportions were 17.0%, 13.1% and 12.9% respectively.

Background Notes

Earnings & Labour Costs (ELC)

The ELC, which is being published today with Preliminary results for Q1 2021 and Final results for Q4 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 Q1 2021 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 1 2021 for more information.

There are methodological differences in the calculation of weekly earnings between the ELC release and the Labour Market Insight Bulletin Series.

The ELC is based on survey data which collects aggregated information from enterprises and presents information separately in relation to both earnings (wages and salaries) and other labour costs (other costs to the employer, in addition to wages and salaries, of employing labour which includes social contributions, expenses, subsidies, benefits in kind). The analysis included in this Bulletin is based on Revenue’s employee level tax data and data provided by Revenue in relation to the TWSS. Earnings estimates provided in this Bulletin include earnings and taxable benefits in kind.

In the ELC average weekly earnings are calculated by dividing the total earnings for the quarter by the average number of persons employed during the quarter and then dividing that by 13 (the number of weeks in a quarter). Average weekly earnings in this Bulletin are calculated by summing the total payments received by an employee in a quarter and dividing by the number of insurable weeks worked by the employee in that quarter.

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.

Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

Revenue’s Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) enabled employees, whose employers were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, to receive supports directly from their employer through the payroll system. The scheme operated in two phases, a transitional phase from 26 March to 3 May and an operational phase from 4 May to 31 August 2020.

Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme

Revenue’s Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) replaced the TWSS and became operational from 1 September 2020. The EWSS is an economy-wide enterprise support that focuses primarily on business eligibility. The scheme provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of eligible employees on the employer’s payroll and gross pay to employees.

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 the PUP, TWSS and EWSS. Tables providing breakdowns of the numbers benefitting from the PUP, EWSS, 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, the TWSS or the EWSS up to 28 March 2021. An overlap table excluding the Live Register is also available.

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.