Construction employment lost 7,000 jobs in June, according to www.abc.org. The industry has added 875,000 jobs since June 2020, recovering 78.6% of the jobs lost since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The construction unemployment rate rose from 6.7% in May to 7.5% in June. The national unemployment rate for all industries increased from 5.8% in May to 5.9% in June as the U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs.
Nonresidential construction lost 22,600 jobs in June, driven by a loss of 14,800 jobs in the nonresidential specialty trade contractor category. Heavy and civil engineering lost 10,900 jobs on net, and nonresidential building added 3,100 jobs on net.
Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu said the data supplies more questions than answers.
“Most economists pay more attention to the establishment survey, which means that most assessments regarding today’s jobs report will be upbeat,” Basu said. “Nonetheless, contractors and other economic stakeholders should be concerned by ongoing labor market dysfunctions, including an inordinate level of difficulty finding workers, elevated numbers of people quitting their jobs and rising wages. While wage growth moderated in June, that may be because disproportionate numbers of entry-level workers re-engaged the economy given the lapse of enhanced unemployment benefits in certain states and their imminent cessation elsewhere. The entry of these workers in large numbers would tend to suppress average wage measures. Most contractors are likely continuing to experience substantial upward wage pressure.”
