Construction employment increased by 20,000 jobs in December 2019 following an increase of 1,000 jobs in November 2019, according to www.agc.org.
The construction unemployment rate was 5% in December 2019. The national unemployment rate for all industries remained unchanged at 3.5%.
The construction sector added 151,000 net new jobs during the past 12 months—a 2% increase. Average hourly earnings in construction increased 2.3% during the past year to $31.11, which is 9% higher than the private-sector average of $28.32.
“More than four out of five respondents to our survey said they were having a hard time filling salaried or hourly craft positions in 2019,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “Nearly two-thirds of the firms say that hiring will be hard or harder this year. In light of those staffing challenges, costs have been higher than anticipated for 44% of respondents, and projects took longer than anticipated for 40% of them. As a result, 41% of respondents have put higher prices into their bids or contracts and 23% have put in longer completion times.”
