Self-employed electricians earned an average of £1,074 a week last month – the equivalent of a £52,000 annual salary.
Hudson Contract, the construction industry’s biggest payer of subcontractors, said earnings increased by 5.6 per cent during October.
It was the fourth consecutive month in which weekly pay was above the £1,000 threshold.
Electrical contractors in Yorkshire and the Humber saw the strongest growth in October (up 31.7 per cent) followed by their counterparts in the East Midlands (up 24.3 per cent) and the North West (up 10.8 per cent).
Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson, said: “Our clients are telling us they have full order books and that demand for skilled trades continues to outstrip supply. Our clients say it will be business as usual up to Christmas in spite of the new lockdown.
“We welcome the extra clarity from ministers that construction workplaces should stay open during the next four weeks.
“They have confirmed that builders merchants and estate agents will continue to trade and tradespeople will be able to enter homes.
“There is plenty of work around. The Government has committed to a lot of infrastructure spending and new projects are being announced every day.
“Looking to next year, the end of free movement will cause disruption but countering that is reduced demand in January and February. Construction could struggle as stimulus packages like help to buy and the stamp duty holiday come to an end around March/April.”
Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indication of pay trends across the sector, publishing the average pay for a spectrum of 17 different trades split across 10 regions in England and Wales.
The family-owned group supplies statistics to the Bank of England to keep policymakers updated with real-time insights on demand for skilled labour.
About Hudson Contract:
Hudson Contract, founded in 1996, is the UK’s largest professional workplace audit and Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) contract provider. The family-owned group provides audit contract and payroll services to more than 2,500 construction SMEs, on whose behalf it processed 1.7m payments last year. Hudson Contract’s monthly figures offer a valuable insight into pay trends in the £90bn construction industry, which accounts for 6.7 per cent of the UK economy and supports 2.9m jobs.