Construction employment added 19,000 jobs on net in June, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. On a year-over-year basis, the industry has expanded by 198,000 jobs—an increase of 2.5%.
The construction unemployment rate rose from 3.6% in June to 3.9% in July. The national unemployment rate for all industries fell from 3.6% in June to 3.5% in July as the U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction added 10,600 jobs in July, with gains in two of the three subsectors. Nonresidential building added 10,500 jobs for the month; heavy and civil engineering added 2,200 jobs; and nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 2,100 jobs.
“The economy is slowing, and inflation remains problematic,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While many economists have reversed their predictions of a near-term recession and conclude that the Federal Reserve will be able to engineer a soft landing, today’s report is a reminder that risks remain. Not only is the economy slowing, but wage pressures remain. Accordingly, the war on excess inflation has not yet been won, which means that the Federal Reserve may not be done raising rates.
“That said, nonresidential construction contractors continue to expand their payrolls,” Basu continued. “General and public works contractors collectively hired thousands of people in July. However, weakness in several commercial real estate segments may help explain job losses among nonresidential contractors last month. Nonetheless, construction worker wages continue to grow rapidly in the context of structural skills shortages. According to data from the ADP Pay Insights report, construction workers who stayed at their job saw a 6.4% wage increase over the past year, or more than twice the rate of inflation.”
