Construction trades weekly earnings on the rise
Earnings among the main construction trades are on the rise again as the Spring brought better weather and the opportunity to catch up lost time on jobs.
The latest pay trends survey of 35,000 self employed workers by Hudson Contract showed two-thirds of the trade groups saw total average weekly earnings rise in March.
Mechanical, insulation, scaffolding and equipment hire operatives in the North West saw the strongest recovery, up 10% - 17% on the start of the year.
Bricklayers in the North West, saw weekly earnings more than doubled to £740 during March – showing they are back working full weeks rather than half weeks because of bad weather.
At present they are the highest paid in the UK. In the South East bricklayers saw average weekly earnings edge forward 2.5% to £489, well short of the £900 a week earned by bricklayers in London this time last year.
Although the South East generally offers above average pay rates 12 of 17 trade groups in the survey saw march earnings fall lower than at the start of the year.
Hudson Contract managing director David Jackson said: “There is cause for cautious optimism. But it is too early to say whether these wages increases are green shoots of recovery."