Jobs returning to Spain construction sector while wages go nowhere

Madrid

SPAIN'S once-ravaged construction industry is creating jobs at the fastest pace in almost three years. Well-paying jobs will take longer.

The country that used to build more houses than France, Germany and the UK combined added 32,300 construction jobs in the second quarter, the fifth consecutive period of expansion, according to the National Statistics Institute. Unions agreed to a minimum-wage increase that's below the national average after a two-year freeze as Europe's second-highest jobless rate favours employers.

"During the good times, you'd get paid eight euros (S$12.50) an hour, maybe…