Average annual earnings increased by 3.6% to €40,283 in 2019, from €38,871 in 2018, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
This compares to an annual increase of 3.3% in 2018 from €37,637 in 2017, the CSO added.
Today's figures show that average annual earnings for full-time workers rose by 2.8% to €48,946 while the average for part-time employees increased by 3.7% to €18,305.
Total earnings last year rose by 6.9% to €76.5 billion due to an increase of 3.2% in the number of people in employment, a 3.5% increase in average hourly earnings and a 0.1% increase in average weekly hours worked.
The CSO also said the total cost of employing labour increased by 7.2% in 2019 with total annual labour costs reaching €88.7 billion.
These costs have increased every year between 2014 and 2019, the CSO noted.
The industry sector had the highest total annual labour costs of €13.4 billion last year followed by the wholesale and retail trade sector at €10.9 billion and the human health and social work sector at €10.6 billion.
The arts, entertainment, recreation and other services activities sector and the accommodation and food services sector had the lowest total annual labour costs of €1.6 billion and €3.9 billion respectively.
