Construction employment increased by 84,000 jobs in October, according to www.abc.org. During the past six months, the industry has added 789,000 jobs, recovering about 73% of the industrywide jobs lost since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The construction unemployment rate fell from 7.1% in September to 6.8% in October—an increase of 2.8 percentage points compared with the same time last year but a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared with September. The national unemployment rate for all industries fell from 7.9% in September to 6.9% in October as the U.S. economy added 638,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction employment added 59,700 jobs on net in October, and there were job gains in all three nonresidential segments; the largest increase was registered among nonresidential specialty trade contractors, which added 27,500 jobs on net.
“It’s hard not to stand up and applaud the U.S. economy’s ability to recover,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Despite political uncertainty, a lingering pandemic, global tumult and a lack of major new stimulus since April, America’s economy continues to show forward momentum.
“Nonresidential construction’s momentum is especially impressive,” Basu continued. “Despite tighter lending conditions, negatively impacted state and local government finances and deteriorating commercial real estate fundamentals, nonresidential construction experienced job creation in each of its three major segments. That said, there is still much ground to be made up. A year ago, nonresidential construction employed nearly 208,000 more people than it does today. The sector has lost nearly 5% of its jobs compared to one year ago, while ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator shows the average contractor has 1.5 fewer months of backlog than it did one year ago.”
Basu warned of the potential effects of another COVID-19-related lockdown.
“While October’s employment report surprised to the upside, contractors should remain on guard,” Basu said. “Cash management will be particularly important going forward. Another recession is possible as COVID-19 rages across the nation, driving up hospitalizations. While household spending will continue to be a source of positive momentum, state-mandated economic lockdowns are likely to become more of a factor during the weeks ahead. That would result in an interruption to the robust recovery that has been building since May and would delay the arrival of nonresidential construction’s complete recovery.”
