Labor Rates Up

This year, despite an economic downturn, the 29th annual Tradeshow Week Survey of U.S. Labor Rates has revealed that average national rates in a variety of skill segments are up, compared with last year. The good news, though, is that they’re not up by much: many rates rose less than 4 percent.

In addition, many cost increases from last year to this year were smaller than those seen from 2007 to 2008, when several skill segments saw rises of more than 15 percent.

The survey indicates the U.S. average hourly cost of a decorator-general laborer working during regular hours increased 1.7 percent, from $77.15 last year to $78.49 this year. Overtime rates rose 1.6 percent, from $119.86 last year to $121.84 this year, and Sunday rates rose 1.5 percent, from $139.72 last year to $141.83 this year.

Larger increases were seen in the area of drayage this year, where the U.S. average hourly rate for drayage-general labor increased 3.8 percent, from $75.33 last year to $78.22. Overtime rates rose considerably higher, with a 5.4-percent increase, from $113.28 to $119.36, and Sunday rates climbed even higher still, with a 6.7-percent increase, from $134.39 to $143.42. More.