Construction employment increased by 10,000 jobs in October following an increase of 7,000 jobs in September, according to www.agc.org.
The construction unemployment rate was 4% in October. The national unemployment rate for all industries rose to 3.6%.
The construction sector added 148,000 net new jobs during the past 12 months—a 2% increase, which was the slowest in almost seven years. Average hourly earnings in construction increased 2.4% during the past year to $30.95, which is 9.8% higher than the private-sector average of $28.18.
“The construction industry is still adding workers at a faster clip than the overall economy, but growth has slowed as private nonresidential and multifamily construction spending shrinks,” says Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “At the same time, public investment and a recent pickup in single-family homebuilding have helped employment to grow.”
