Construction employment added 8,000 jobs on net in December 2024, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. On a year-over-year basis, the industry has expanded by 196,000 jobs—an increase of 2.4%.
The construction unemployment rate rose from 4.6% in November 2024 to 5.2% in December 2024. The national unemployment rate for all industries fell to 4.1% in December 2024 from 4.2% in November 2024 as the U.S. economy added 256,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction added 4,700 jobs in December 2024, with growth in all three subsectors. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 3,900 jobs; heavy and civil engineering added 600 jobs; and nonresidential building added 200 jobs in December 2024.
“The December jobs data bode well for the broader economy but poorly for the construction industry,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Nationwide employment increased for the 48th consecutive month in December, and it increased rapidly. The 256,000 net new jobs were the most in any month since March, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%.
“Construction job growth, on the other hand, has clearly slowed in recent months,” Basu continued. “The 15,000 jobs added during the fourth quarter of 2024 represent the fewest over any three-month period since the middle of 2021. While industrywide job growth is still significantly faster than economywide hiring over the past year, the interest rate implications of these data represent a greater concern for contractors. Bond yields surged even higher as a result of this jobs report, suggesting that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates during the first half of 2025. Contractors intend to increase their staffing levels in the coming months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, and it will be interesting to see if those intentions remain intact in early 2025.”
