Construction employment added 8,000 jobs on net in October, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. On a year-over-year basis, the industry has expanded by 223,000 jobs—an increase of 2.8%.
The construction unemployment rate rose from 3.7% in September to 4.2% in October. The national unemployment rate for all industries remained unchanged at 4.1% in October as the U.S. economy added 12,000 jobs; the numbers likely were affected by hurricanes and the Boeing strike.
Nonresidential construction added 13,500 jobs in October, with growth in two of the three subsectors. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 14,300 jobs, and nonresidential building added 300 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering lost 1,100 jobs.
“October’s employment report was severely distorted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “As a result, employers across all industries were estimated to have added just 12,000 jobs, the fewest in any month since the economy lost jobs in December 2020. Importantly, the separate survey that produces the unemployment rate was not affected by the storms and indicates that the jobless rate remained stable at 4.1% in October.
“Despite the underwhelming and heavily distorted economywide data, this jobs report indicates that the construction industry added jobs for the fifth straight month,” Basu continued. “Over the past year, the construction sector has added jobs at exactly twice the rate of the broader economy, and growth has been even faster in the nonresidential segment. With contractors on net expecting their staffing levels to increase over the next two quarters, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, it appears likely that industry payrolls will continue to expand through at least the early months of 2025.”
