The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey shows the construction industry registered 334,000 job openings in June, which is down 71,000 from May but up 13,000 from June 2021, according to www.abc.org. The survey defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting.
For the 16th consecutive month, construction workers quit their jobs at a faster rate than they were laid off or discharged in June; the quit rate was 2.3%, and the layoff/discharge rate was 1.7%.
“While debate regarding whether or not the U.S. is in recession rages on, one thing appears clear: the U.S. economy is poised to slow,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “What had been an economy beset largely by issues of supply is now becoming one faced with both supply chain issues and weakening demand for goods and services.
“Among the segments experiencing the sharpest reduction in job openings was construction,” Basu continued. “In May, the national construction industry had 405,000 available, unfilled jobs. By June, this number had declined to 334,000. While that remains a significant number of job openings, demand for workers is clearly fading due to rising borrowing costs, increasingly pervasive pessimism and growing risk of recession. These factors have diminished contractor profit margin expectations, as indicated by ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”
