Industrial employment down in end-of-year comparisons
Industrial employment was 239,600 in December 2004, a decrease of 6,900 from December 2003.
However, between September and December 2004 there was a seasonally-adjusted increase of 200 in industrial employment.
The figures were released today by the Central Statistics Office.
Meanwhile, preliminary estimates of industrial earnings for December 2004 show that the average
weekly earnings of workers increased by 4.8% when compared with December 2003.
Industrial hourly earnings rose by 5.8% while average hours worked decreased by 1% for the same period.
Average weekly earnings of all employees rose by 5.1% in the year to December 2004. This rise consists of increases of 4.8% for industrial employees and 5% for clerical and managerial employees combined.
