Residential Building Workers See Slowing Wage Growth
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that average hourly earnings (AHE) for residential building workers in production and non-supervisory positions rose in August to $29.32, however, this reflects a slower wage growth than seen in 2021.
Although wages continue to rise, the annual rate of growth has slowed during the past year to 3%. The recent housing slowdown indicates employers are cautious about hiring amid a slowing economy and rising interest rates despite the high labor demand.
The rise of AHE for residential building workers was 16.8% higher than manufacturing’s AHE of $25.11, 10.8% higher than transportation and warehousing ($26.47) and 11.5% lower than mining and logging ($33.14).
Since the COVID-19 pandemic recession, AHE has risen considerably for workers. The year-over-year growth of 8% in October 2021 was the highest rate since February 2019. Due to tighter monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, the construction labor market is cooling off as economic activity slows. However, there remain 407,000 open construction jobs.
Jing Fu, NAHB’s director of forecasting and analysis, provides more information in this Eye on Housing blog post.
Latest from NAHBNow
Housing Affordability
Oct 21, 2025
The Fight for Housing Affordability: NAHB Spotlights Key HurdlesNAHB CEO Jim Tobin recently appeared on the Builder Straight Talk podcast to highlight the housing affordability hurdles builders face in the current market, and how the Federation is working at the local, state and national levels to address them.
Sponsored Content
Oct 21, 2025
Why Builders Overpay for Land and How to Protect Your MarginsLand is the single largest cost driver in any home building project. But even experienced acquisition teams sometimes overpay. This is often the result of a lack of context and outdated data.
Latest Economic News
Economics
Oct 20, 2025
Non-Conventional Financing for New Home Sales Loses Ground in 2024Nationwide, the share of non-conventional financing for new home sales accounted for 31% of the market per NAHB analysis of the 2024 Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC) data. This is 1.7 percentage point lower than the 2023 share of 32.4%. As in previous years, conventional financing dominated the market at 69.3% of sales, higher than the 2023 share of 67.6%.
Economics
Oct 17, 2025
Better Growth, Larger Deficits: CBO Fiscal OutlookThe Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a key nonpartisan score keeper that measures the effects of policy changes by the Federal Government. With several policy changes since January of this year, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), stricter immigration, and higher tariffs, the CBO updated its economic projections through 2028.
Economics
Oct 16, 2025
Amid Market Challenges, Builder Expectations Rise in OctoberEven as builders continue to grapple with market and macroeconomic uncertainty, sentiment levels posted a solid gain in October as future sales expectations surpassed the 50-point breakeven mark for the first time since last January.