Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the average daily wage of construction workers was MOP507 in the second quarter of 2010, down by 4.2% quarter-to-quarter. The average daily wage of skilled & semi-skilled workers (MOP537) fell by 5.1%, of which plant operators (MOP667), scaffolders (MOP643), concreters and drain layers (MOP640) and levellers (MOP637) were earning higher average wages; meanwhile, the average daily wage of unskilled workers (MOP340) registered an increase of 8.6%.

After discounting the effect of inflation, the wage index of construction workers for the second quarter of 2010 was 93.2 in real terms, down by 1.6% over the previous quarter.

As regards construction materials, the average price of spiral and round reinforcing steel bars increased by 15.5% quarter-to-quarter to MOP4,882 per tonne, and that of Portland cement rose by 4.5% to MOP653 per tonne; however, the average price of concrete registered a decrease of 2.2% to MOP308 per cubic metre.

In the second quarter of 2010, the price index of construction materials for residential buildings rose by 4.5% quarter-to-quarter to 138.3; in particular, the price indices of steel and timber increased by 14.9% and 1.9% respectively, while the price indices of aluminium and concrete went down by 2.4% and 1.9%. Compared with the same quarter of 2009, the price index of construction materials for residential buildings registered an increase of 14.0%.