Average hourly earnings declined in the final quarter of 2010, while the number of people employed in both the public and private sectors also fell, new data has said.

Information from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed average hourly earnings were €21.96 per hour in the final three months of 2010, compared with €22.38 a year earlier, a 1.9 per cent decline over the year.

For 2010, average hourly earnings were 1.6 per cent lower than the previous year, coming after a 2.5 per cent increase recorded in 2009.

In total, nine out of 13 sectors saw earnings decline. Those working in the public sector were particularly affected.