Average weekly earnings for self-employed construction trades rose by just 2.3% year on year in April, as demand for skilled labour slowed across England and Wales.
New figures from Hudson Contract, one of the UK construction industry’s largest payroll providers, showed average weekly earnings of £1,022 during the month.
The rise was below the latest CPIH inflation rate of 3.4%, recorded by the Office for National Statistics for the year to March 2026. CPI inflation stood at 3.3% over the same period.
Hudson said the increase was also less than half the 5.2% rise in public sector earnings.
Earnings fell 6.8% from March, which Hudson said was in line with normal seasonal trends as tradespeople took time off during the Easter holidays.
The strongest year-on-year increases were recorded in plastering, up 13.1%, plumbing, up 11.5%, and joinery, up 10.3%.
Regional pay figures were mixed.
The North East recorded the strongest annual rise, up 17.5% to £885 per week. The West Midlands rose 10.1% to £984, while Wales was up 4.5% to £1,131.
But earnings fell year on year in several regions. The South West was down 5.6% to £1,001, Yorkshire and Humber fell 5.4% to £993, and the East Midlands dropped 2.7% to £1,026.
London earnings averaged £1,060, up 2.3% on April last year.
David Harris, regional account manager at Hudson Contract, said demand for self-employed tradespeople was “flatlining”.
He said this reflected wider signs of weaker construction activity, including slower concrete and steel sales and reduced appetite for new-build housing, particularly in London.
“Unless the situation in the Middle East is resolved soon, rising fuel costs and reduced availability of chemicals will lead to further increases in material prices which are always quick to go up and slow to come down,” he said.
The figures come as construction firms continue to report higher input costs and weaker activity.
The latest S&P Global UK Construction PMI fell to 39.7 in April, down from 45.6 in March, with any figure below 50 indicating contraction. S&P Global said fuel surcharges had contributed to a rapid rise in purchasing prices, with around 69% of survey respondents reporting higher input costs in April.
Reuters also reported that UK builders faced the sharpest rise in cost inflation since June 2022, alongside weaker new orders and pressure on employment levels.
Hudson tracks average pay for 17 trades across 10 regions in England and Wales. The company said it supplies labour market statistics to the Bank of England to help inform policy decisions on skilled labour demand.
Hudson serves around 2,600 construction SMEs, ranging from specialist subcontractors to medium and larger businesses.
