Labor Department Can Create Jobs by Calculating Davis–Bacon Rates More Accurately
The Davis–Bacon Act (DBA) requires federal construction contractors to pay “prevailing” wages. However, the Department of Labor (DOL) estimates these prevailing rates unscientifically. DBA surveys use tiny, statistically unrepresentative samples of the construction workforce. As a result, DBA rates differ markedly from true market wages. Calculating DBA rates with Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data would solve these problems. Two BLS surveys currently provide the information necessary to calculate Davis–Bacon rates:
Source: heritage.org
