Construction’s Hourly Wages 10% Higher Than Private Sector’s
Date Posted: July 25, 2019
Posted In: Discussion, Workforce,
From ConstructionDive:
- New analysis from the Associated General Contractors of America backs up what many in the industry already know: Construction firms are having to pay higher wages to attract skilled workers from a shrinking labor pool. Average hourly earnings in construction — a measure of all wages and salaries —increased 3.2% over the year to $30.73, 10% higher than the private-sector average of $27.90, the association said.
- In addition to raising pay and benefits, many firms have told the AGC that they have increased investments in training as they recruit workers with little to no prior experience in construction.
- Most of the construction job growth during the past year came from the nonresidential construction sector, which added 146,700 jobs during the past year, according to federal data. Meanwhile, residential contractors added 78,000 jobs in the same time period.
A dearth of skilled labor has caused U.S. companies to continue to increase pay as they work to attract new hires in what AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr said in a statement is “one of the tightest labor markets” that contractors have ever experienced. Construction employment increased by 3.2 percent over the past 12 months, while the number of unemployed job seekers with construction experience fell, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Another government series showed that the number of job openings in construction, last reported for May, totaled 360,000, the highest May total in the 19-year history of the series.
Sandherr pinned at least some of the problem on the lack of technical training in U.S. schools and called on the federal government to boost funding for training programs for students.