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 wage growth falls behind other sectors

Construction wages, as measured by index K5AH in the ONS’s Average Weekly Earnings dataset⁽¹⁾, increased by 0.1% in the year to January 2026. This was a decrease on the 2.4% rise seen in the 12 months to December 2025. On the month, there was a 0.6% decrease in the construction industry’s average weekly earnings.

Across the whole economy, the average increase in earnings in the year to January 2026 was 3.4%, down from 3.6% in December, according to index KA5H⁽²⁾.

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘Construction wage growth has slowed sharply and continues to lag behind the wider economy, reflecting weaker investment in new work and ongoing volatility in the sector. The fall in monthly earnings suggests that softer activity, evident in declining output in late 2025, may be prompting employers to hold back on pay increases. Ongoing geopolitical risks could further dampen client confidence, weighing on client decision-making and earnings growth as a result.’

Annual growth in earnings in construction was lower than the whole economy average for the ninth consecutive month in January 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 lowest annual increase in average weekly earnings across all sectors.

The greatest annual wage growth was recorded in the wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector with a 4.7% 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}