Construction employment added 11,000 jobs on net in September, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. On a year-over-year basis, the industry has expanded by 217,000 jobs—an increase of 2.8%.
The construction unemployment rate fell from 3.9% in August to 3.8% in September. The national unemployment rate for all industries remained unchanged at 3.8% in September as the U.S. economy added 336,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction lost 1,300 jobs in September, with contraction in two of the three subsectors. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 3,300 jobs for the month, and nonresidential building lost 200 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering added 2,200 jobs.
“Despite declining last month, America’s nonresidential construction segment has still added jobs at a faster rate than the broader economy over the past year,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While a meaningful share of that hiring relates to infrastructure and large-scale manufacturing projects, several other subsegments, such as data centers and health care, enter the fourth quarter with momentum.
“Hiring would likely be faster if not for ongoing skills and labor shortages,” Basu continued. “America desperately needs more people to enter the skilled trades as it seeks to rebuild its supply chains and improve its built environment. Despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to soften economic growth, a majority of contractors expect their sales and staffing to expand over the next six months, according to ABC's Construction Confidence Index. That suggests that the construction labor market is poised to tighten further during the months ahead despite ongoing Federal Reserve efforts to curb inflation, including by further slowing the pace of hiring.”
