Average weekly earnings in the construction industry

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes monthly updates on average weekly earnings across the whole economy and by industry and sector in Great Britain. This commentary relates to ONS’s EARN02 and EARN03 datasets, which cover non-seasonally adjusted earnings, excluding bonuses and including arrears.

Construction wages decline on annual basis for third consecutive month

Construction wages, as measured by index K5AH in the ONS’s Average Weekly Earnings dataset⁽¹⁾, decreased by 1% in the year to March 2026. This was a slightly greater fall than the 0.9% decrease seen in the 12 months to February 2026. On the month, there was no change in the construction industry’s average weekly earnings.

Across the whole economy, the average increase in earnings in the year to March 2026 was 3.2%, down slightly from a 3.3% increase seen in the year to February 2026, according to index KA5H⁽²⁾.

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘Construction remains out of step with the wider economy, with average weekly earnings falling again on an annual basis and remaining flat on the month, while pay growth across other sectors remains positive.

‘The sector was already operating in a cautious environment, shaped by elevated borrowing costs, ongoing cost pressures and uncertainty around future workloads.

‘March was also the first reporting month following the escalation of tensions involving Iran. While the direct effects are unlikely to have fully fed through into cost data or pricing information at this stage, concerns around inflation, energy prices and wider market confidence have increased.

‘Against that backdrop, it is not surprising that earnings growth in construction continues to lag behind the wider economy, particularly as businesses remain focused on managing margins and controlling risk.’

Annual growth in earnings in construction was lower than the whole economy average for the eleventh consecutive month in March 2026.

^{Source: ONS – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector, Table 7, and EARN03: Average weekly earnings by industry, Table 4}

Comparing pay at a sector level (with index K56S), construction workers saw the only annual decrease in average weekly earnings across all sectors.

The greatest annual wage growth was recorded in the public sector with a 4.4% rise.

^{Source: ONS – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector, Table 7}

The ONS data show that the construction sector has experienced the most extreme fluctuations in earnings movement in recent years, from a 9.5% annual decrease in May 2020 to a 13.4% increase year-on-year in May 2021.

^{Source: ONS – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by sector, Table 7}

BCIS produces five-year forecasts of the Average Weekly Earnings construction (K5AH) and whole economy (KA5H) time series for subscribers of BCIS OpX.

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^{(1) Office for National Statistics – EARN03: Average weekly earnings by industry  - here}

^{(2) Office for National Statistics – EARN02: Average weekly earnings by industry  - here}