Construction employment added 22,000 jobs on net in July, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. On a year-over-year basis, the industry has expanded by 82,000 jobs—an increase of 1%.
The construction unemployment rate fell from 4.7% in June to 3.7% in July. The national unemployment rate for all industries fell from 4.2% to 4.1% as the U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction added 20,000 jobs in July, with gains in all three subsectors. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 15,400 jobs; nonresidential building added 4,200 jobs; and heavy and civil engineering added 400 jobs.
“Nonresidential construction employment continued to expand at a healthy pace in July as the data center investment boom fuels ongoing demand for specialty trade contractors,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Given recent construction spending data and upbeat contractor sentiment, as measured by ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, this is not particularly surprising.
“Construction industry employment, however, is far from the most salient aspect of July’s jobs report,” Basu continued. “Rather, the unexpected loss of economywide jobs in July—the first since February—and massive downward revisions to the prior two months of growth signal emerging labor market weakness. If this soft labor market persists, it will benefit the construction industry in the form of lower borrowing costs. Indeed, treasury yields fell sharply following the release of the July jobs numbers.”
