Figures from the Central Statistics Office show a big drop in average earnings in the financial sector in the first three months of this year.
Average hourly earnings in the sector were €30.37, down more than 11% compared with the first quarter of last year. The fall was mainly to a 65% slump in average bonuses.
When bonuses were excluded earnings were 5.4% ahead of the same period last year. Average industrial hourly earnings rose by 5.9% to €22.05, though the rise was bigger at 6.5% when bonuses were stripped out.
Over the year, hourly labour costs in the industrial sector rose by 9%, but they fell by 9% in the financial sector in the same period.
The CSO figures also show that 2,800 industrial workers - or 1.3% of the total - were on the national minimum wage in the first three months of this year. This was down from 4,400 (1.9%) a year earlier.
