Construction Employment Reaches 10-Year High, Industry Unemployment Sets Record Low

Construction employment increased by 19,000 jobs in July and by 303,000 jobs over the past year, reaching a 10-year high, and the industry’s unemployment rate and level hit an all-time low, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said it was likely firms would have added even more workers if they could find qualified candidates to hire.

“The construction industry has added workers at nearly three times the rate of the economy as a whole, and the job gains are showing up in both residential and nonresidential construction,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But it is getting ever harder for contractors to find workers despite offering above-average pay and good career advancement opportunities.”

Construction employment totaled 7.2 million in July, the highest level since May 2008 with a gain of 4.4 percent over the past 12 months. The economist pointed out that the year-over-year growth rate in industry jobs almost tripled the 1.6 percent rise in total nonfarm payroll employment.

Hourly earnings in the industry averaged $29.86 in July, an increase of 3.2 percent from a year earlier. That put average hourly earnings in construction 10.4 percent higher than the average for all nonfarm private-sector jobs, which rose 2.7 percent in the past year, to $27.05, Simonson added.

The unemployment for workers with construction experience in July was 3.4 percent, more than a percentage point lower than July 2017 (4.9 percent) and July 2016 (4.5 percent) and a record low since the series started in 2000—a sign that the industry is operating at essentially full employment, Simonson said.

Employment in residential construction – comprising residential building and specialty trade contractors—grew by 6,200 jobs in July and added 139,300 jobs over the past 12 months, a 5.2 percent increase. Employment in nonresidential construction—including building, specialty trades and heavy and civil engineering construction—grew by 13,200 jobs in July and increased by 168,400 during the past year, a 4.0 percent increase.