Article source: ConstructConnect
Concerning the cost of doing business, a lot of attention has been focused lately on sharply rising material input prices. But compensation rates haven’t just been sitting idly by, quietly twiddling their thumbs, either.
There are numerous sources of information on the wages paid to workers in the U.S. and Canada. It would seem logical, though, to turn first to the data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Statistics Canada in their monthly Employment Situation and Labour Force Survey reports respectively. Being included along with the latest jobs numbers means they come, as near as can be, with an ‘official’ stamp.
Tables 1 and 2 below are derived from Table B-8 of September’s BLS Employment Situation Report. The hourly and weekly wage rates are for ‘production and nonsupervisory’ workers. In other words, bosses are excluded. Table 3 below condenses and summarizes material appearing in Table 11 of Statistics Canada’s September Labour Force Survey. In addition to pay hikes, it provides insight into union versus non-union and full-time versus part-time earnings.
