Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 1,600 construction companies and over 100,000 freelance builders to publish the average pay for the full spectrum of 17 different trades across five regions.

Can anyone say with certainty what is happening in construction at the moment? The simple answer is: NO!

As Hudson Contract Managing Director David Jackson observes: “One minute I’m reading a report in the trade press that insolvencies in the industry are up 19% and new orders are down by over 20%. Then a feature pops up insisting both activity and employment are up. So what am I supposed to believe?”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the words were spoken twelve months ago – and today, the outlook for construction continues to yield a wealth of mixed signals.

While the latest Markit/CIPS Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – reports growth in May, the survey shows too that new business growth and confidence about the 12-month outlook are both much less positive than they were even one month ago.

“The image in my head is one of a dog that is simultaneously growling and wagging its tail,” David Jackson continues. “Although when you take into account the ferocious rain in April and May, plus the time lost for the Diamond Jubilee, I anticipate that this month’s pay trends are the shape of things to come, for the next little while, at least.”

Hudson Contract’s latest set of pay stats reveal average earnings are again showing a decrease on three months ago.

The North West and North East are least affected showing falls of 1.09% and 3.50% respectively. The other three regions all have more significant drops of more than 4%.

The biggest losers:

• Roofers in the North West: Down 18%
• Plumbers in the North East and plasterers in the South East: Down 16%
• Plasterers in the South West, insulation specialists in the North West Down 15%

David Jackson adds: “It’s also worth mentioning that the numbers of freelance builders we are paying each week continues to increase, which goes to show how important it is to our clients to be able to respond swiftly – and cost-effectively – to fluctuations in demand.”

Hudson Contract’s ‘window on the construction industry’ gives you hard figures and data that is not available from any other source, with pay averages that reflect the amounts paid by a sample number of businesses – large and small – to specific trades over the twelve weeks to 31st May 2012. www.hudsoncontract.co.uk