Official figures show that employment in construction firms in December was 6.4% lower than in the same month a year earlier.
The Central Statistics Office's construction employment index has been falling since April last year, but December's fall was the steepest so far. The figures cover building companies with five or more workers.
Separate CSO figures show that average earnings for public service workers rose by 4% in the year to September, bringing the average weekly wage to €918.31.
Overall, 363,900 people were working in the public sector in September, up 10,400 on a year earlier. There was a rise of 6,900 in the health sector, but the CSO says the figures were not directly comparable due to changes in certain grades and agencies.
Meanwhile, the CSO has estimated that the volume of industrial production rose by 7% last year compared with 2006. There was a 9% rise in the modern sector - including technology and pharmaceutical firms - but just a 2.5% increase in the traditional sector.
For December, production was 0.8% up on the same month in 2006, though there was a 3.8% rise compared with November.
