Wages for Residential Construction Workers Post Consecutive Gains

Average hourly earnings (AHE) for residential building workers increased 5% year-over-year from $27.79 in May 2021 to $29.18 in May 2022, NAHB Eye on Housing reports. As a widespread labor shortage persists nationwide, major construction firms and industry leaders believe that rising wages are key to attracting skilled workers. The number of construction job openings was little changed in May at a constant 434,000 jobs, the highest measure in the history of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) data series.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, average hourly earnings (AHE) for residential building workers were $29.18 in May 2022, increasing 5% from $27.79 a year ago. This was 17.0% higher than the manufacturing’s average hourly earnings of $24.95, 11.5% higher than transportation and warehousing’s, and 9.7% lower than mining and logging’s.

Average hourly earnings for residential building workers have increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic recession. Between December 2019 and December 2021, residential building workers’ average hourly earnings increased about 12%.

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