Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the average daily wage of construction workers decreased by 3.8% quarter-to-quarter to MOP715 in the third quarter of 2019. The average daily wages of concrete formwork carpenters (MOP705), structural iron erectors (MOP725) and bricklayers & plasterers (MOP690) dropped by 12.2%, 11.4% and 9.0% respectively, while the wages of concreters (MOP763) and welders (MOP901) increased by 13.5% and 9.6% respectively. The average daily wage of local construction workers edged down by 0.1% to MOP986, whereas that of non-resident construction workers grew by 3.0% to MOP615.

After discounting the effect of inflation, the wage index of construction workers (89.8) for the third quarter of 2019 dropped by 5.5% quarter-to-quarter in real terms, and that of local construction workers (94.1) fell by 2.4%.

As regards construction materials, the average prices of spiral & round reinforcing steel bars (MOP5,112 per tonne) and concrete (MOP972 per cubic metre) in the third quarter of 2019 increased by 0.7% and 3.8% respectively quarter-to-quarter. The price index of construction materials for residential buildings grew by 0.7% to 110.3, with the price indices of concrete, sand and aggregate rising by 3.8%, 2.9% and 2.7% respectively.