Construction employment lost 11,000 jobs on net in December 2025, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. On a year-over-year basis, the industry has expanded by 14,000 jobs—an increase of 0.2%.
The construction unemployment rate rose from 4.1% in November 2025 to 5% in December 2025. The national unemployment rate for all industries fell to 4.4% as the U.S. economy added 50,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction lost 7,800 jobs in December 2025, with losses in two of three subsectors. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 8,900 jobs, and nonresidential building lost 1,200 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering added 2,300 jobs.
“The construction industry added just 14,000 net new jobs in 2025,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Excluding the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, that’s the worst 12-month performance since 2011, when the construction industry was still spiraling from the Great Recession. While the nonresidential side of the industry performed significantly better over the past year, even that segment’s momentum has started to wane. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors, demand for which led the industry in 2025, posted its worst month in nearly four years, losing 8,900 jobs in December.
“Despite this dismal performance, the industry’s unemployment rate remains relatively low, down 0.2 percentage points from the same time last year,” Basu continued. “This unusual dynamic—decreasing employment but a steady unemployment rate—likely reflects the effects of immigration policy on the industry’s workforce. As a result, average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory construction workers were up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis in both November and December, a sharp increase from the 3.9% increase observed in October. While contractors remain optimistic about hiring over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, recent declines in backlog, ongoing declines in construction spending and December’s job losses suggest it could be a difficult start to 2026 for the industry.”
