The accommodation and food services sector continued to be heavily reliant on Government Covid supports in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
A report on Earnings and Labour Costs shows that 66.5% of jobs in the sector were supported by the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme.
The EWSS also accounted for 45.6% of earnings in the industry.
38.7% of jobs in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector were supported by the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The subsidy rates for the EWSS are to be cut further from today.
The changes will mean that all rates will be reduced to €100 per employee from now until 30 April.
At that point the EWSS will end completely.
Today's CSO figures show that across all sectors, average hourly earnings and the job vacancy rate increased in the year to the fourth quarter of 2021.
Average weekly earnings were €864.51 in the fourth quarter of 2021, an increase of 2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
The job vacancy rate at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 was 1.4%, down from 1.5% at the end of the third quarter1 but up from 0.9% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020.
The sectors showing the largest quarterly percentage increase in average weekly pay were the financial, insurance and real estate activities sector, which saw a rise of 11.3% and the transportation and storage sector which recorded an increase of 9.8%.
