Residential Building Wage Growth Accelerates—Fastest Growth Since 2018

Wages for residential building workers are growing. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ Eye On Housing blog, wages for residential building workers increased by 9% in June, marking the fastest year-over-year growth rate since December 2018. As of June, average hourly earnings for residential building workers were $32.28 per hour, compared with $29.62 per hour one year ago. When looking at other trade jobs, wages for residential building workers are now 16.2% higher than average hourly earnings in manufacturing ($27.79 per hour) and 10.6% higher than the transportation and warehousing sector’s $29.18 per hour.

The ongoing skilled labor shortage in the construction labor market and lingering inflation impacts account for the recent acceleration in wage growth. However, demand for construction labor is weakening as interest rates remain elevated. As mentioned in the latest JOLTS blog, the number of open construction sector jobs shifted notably lower from 366,000 in May to 295,000 in June. Nonetheless, the ongoing skilled labor shortage continues to challenge the construction sector.

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