Construction employment increased by 51,000 jobs in December 2020, according to www.abc.org. During the past eight months, the industry has added 857,000 jobs, recovering 79.1% of the industrywide jobs lost since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The construction unemployment rate rose from 7.3% in November 2020 to 9.6% in December 2020—an increase of 4.6 percentage points compared with the same time last year and an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared with November 2020. The national unemployment rate for all industries was unchanged at 6.7% in December 2020 as the U.S. economy lost 140,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction employment added 29,000 jobs on net in December 2020, and there were job gains in two of the three nonresidential segments; the largest increase was registered among nonresidential specialty trade contractors, which added 18,300 jobs on net. Heavy and civil engineering added 15,000 jobs on net, and nonresidential building declined by 4,300 jobs on net.
“The case can be made that the U.S. economy is back in recession,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Retail sales began to slip in October, and according to today’s release, the nation is now losing jobs. With significant segments of the economy still completely or partially shut down, the likelihood is that further jobs losses are forthcoming.
“Given the estimate that the nation lost 140,000 jobs, nonresidential construction’s performance looks brilliant,” Basu continued. “Indeed, during much of the pandemic period, nonresidential construction has represented a relative bulwark of stability, buoyed by its frequent status as an essential industry and a large backlog coming into the crisis.”
Basu said COVID-19 vaccination efforts could lead to a more positive outlook for the second half of 2021.
“The expectation remains that as vaccination proceeds, the U.S. economy is poised for a significant uptick in growth during the latter half of 2021,” Basu said. “That will set the stage for improving industry performance in 2022 and beyond, particularly if the new administration is able to push forward an aggressive infrastructure stimulus package.”
