Daily wage of Macao's construction workers down 2.7% in Q3

MACAO, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The overall average daily wage of construction
workers in Macao was 542 patacas (67.75 U.S. dollars)in the third quarter of
2008, decreasing by 2.7 percent quarter-to-quarter, according to the figures
released on Friday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Among the construction workers, the average daily wage of skilled and
semi-skilled workers dropped by 3.6 percent during the period to 557 patacas
(69.63 dollars) and that of unskilled workers fell by 0.6 percent to 349 (43.6
dollars), the DSEC said.

After discounting the effect of inflation, the overall real wage index of
construction workers for the third quarter of 2008 was 95.4, dropping by 5.1
percent quarter-to-quarter, and the real wage indices of skilled and
semi-skilled workers, and unskilled workers, both at 95.4, decreased by 5.5
percent and 2.6 percent respectively.

As regards the prices of construction materials for the third quarter of
2008, the average price of spiral and round reinforcing steel bars, and ordinary
clear sheet glass rose to 7,645 patacas (956 dollars) per ton and 81 patacas
(10.1 dollars) per square meter respectively, up by eight percent and 1.4
percent quarter-to-quarter, but that of clamping plate (plywood) declined by 2
percent to 64 patacas (8 dollars) per square meter, according to the DSEC
figures.