Construction Adds 32,000 Jobs in July

The construction industry added 32,000 jobs on net in July, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors. Construction employment has increased by 311,000 jobs, or 4.2, since July 2021.

According to the Associated General Contractors, the number of unfilled construction positions is approaching record levels.

“Construction firms are doing their best to add new workers to keep pace with strong demand for construction,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of AGC in a prepared statement. “Despite the month’s big gains, the industry’s job gains would have been even higher if there were more people available to hire.”

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 18,300 positions on net in July, with all three subsectors showing growth. Nonresidential specialty trade added 10,300 net new jobs, while nonresidential building added an additional 4,900. Heavy and civil engineering also added 3,100 new positions.

Employment in residential construction—homebuilders, multifamily general contractors, and residential specialty trade contractors—increased by 14,100 between June and July.

The construction unemployment rate decreased to 3.5 percent in July.

“Today’s employment report was expected to show an economy not yet in recession but at least headed in that direction,” said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu, in a statement. “Shockingly, that did not come to pass, as U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July, more than twice the consensus forecast of 250,000, and the unemployment rate across all industries fell to 3.5 percent, tied for the lowest rate since the late 1960s.

“Yes, the construction industry also added a healthy number of jobs in July, but the impact of macroeconomic deterioration is already apparent in other construction data,” said Basu. “To date, the residential segment has felt the brunt of rising borrowing costs, with mortgage applications recently declining to multidecade lows. But ongoing weakness in certain commercial real estate segments, sky-high materials prices, and shortages of skilled construction workers have forestalled a growing number of projects by suppressing demand at a time when the cost of delivering construction services remains elevated. The industry’s labor supply remains severely constrained; the construction unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in July, the fifth lowest rate in the 22-plus years for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics has data.