Wages for Residential Building Workers Are on the Rise

Average hourly earnings for residential building workers rose 6% year-over-year from $27.01 in February 2021 to $28.66 in 2022, NAHB Eye on Housing reports. Rising wages are an effective way to recruit and attract skilled workers in the midst of a labor shortage, but tradespeople in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and mining and logging still earn 16.7%, 12.9%, and 10.8% less than those in residential building, respectively.

The jobs opening rate remained at 4.8% in February, but the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in March. As a skilled labor shortage persists, more wage growth is likely for industry workers across the board.

As skilled labor shortage persists, rising wages may be one of the effective ways to attract employees to fill empty positions.

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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