Wages up 8% in last year
Wages jumped by almost 8% in 2005, figures from the Central Statistics Office said today.
The data from the National Income and Expenditure 2005 statement also showed that the economy grew by 5.5% last year.
Personal incomes increased by 7.9%, while Government spending rose by 10.4%.
However the CSO said that when price rises are discounted, the real increases are 6.6% and 4.6% respectively.
Gross domestic product rose by 5.5% between 2004 and 2005, while growth in gross national product was lower than first predicted at 5.3%.
Non-agricultural incomes increased by 8.8% last year, while farm incomes were up 17%.
During 2005, the value of exports rose by 5.6% while export prices increased by 1.7% and export volumes were up 3.9%.
The value of imports increased by 8.3%, which represented a 1.7% increase in price and a 6.5% increase in volume.
