Dive Brief:

• The construction industry had the highest net employment growth of any industry during the first quarter of the year, according to the new ADP Workforce Vitality Report.

• As employment in the industry increased by 5.7%, wages also rose by 4.1% for the quarter, the highest of any industry except finance, the report, a collaboration of the ADP Research Institute and Moody’s Analytics, said.

• Despite the big gains for the construction industry, manufacturing employment growth and wages grew slower, both increasing by just 1.9%.

Dive Insight:

The combination of climbing wages and increased hiring made construction the strongest growth industry in the first quarter, the report said. Still, the number of hours in the average construction worker’s work week decreased by 0.3%.