Employment, wages and salaries decrease in construction sector

According to a sample survey carried out by NSO among construction enterprises, employment fell by 5.8%, wages and salaries declined by 3.2% and hours worked went down by 5.8% when compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Year-on-year data reveal that employment in construction activities fell by 5.8%, on account of declines in employment in the construction of buildings and specialised construction activities of 4.7 and 8.5% respectively.

Employment within civil engineering increased by 2.5%.

Wages and salaries declined by 3.2 %, resulting from a 4.4 % drop of wages and salaries paid in both the construction of buildings and specialised construction activities. 

This decline was partially mitigated by a 3.1 % rise in wages and salaries paid in respect of civil engineering, NSO said.

During the second quarter of 2011, hours worked decreased by 5.8 % when compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Hours worked in the construction of buildings and specialised construction activities fell by 5.9 and 10.5% respectively. 

This decline was partially offset by an increase of 6% in hours worked in civil engineering.

For the second quarter of 2011, the number of units for which new permits were granted decreased by 17.4% on account of a 20.5% decrease in permits for apartments.

On the other hand, permits for one dwelling residential buildings rose by 2.0 %. New permits for the construction of terraced houses and other residential buildings declined by 12.5 and 3.6 % respectively, while permits for maisonettes increased by 11.6%.