The construction industry added 17,000 jobs on net in December, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors’ analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 197,000 jobs, an increase of 2.5%. Last month, nonresidential construction employment increased by 11,900 positions on net, with growth in two of the three subcategories. Nonresidential building added 8,100 positions, while nonresidential specialty trade added 4,300 jobs on net. Heavy and civil engineering lost 500 jobs. The construction unemployment rate fell to 4.4% in December. Unemployment across all industries remained unchanged at 3.7% … Read more

The construction industry had 350,000 job openings on the last day of August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings decreased by 3,000 last month but are up by 5,000 from the same time last year. “The number of open, unfilled construction positions declined in August but remains higher than both one year ago and the pre-pandemic level,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Despite … Read more