The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday posted its annual projections of 10-year employment change, covering 2024-2034. The agency projects construction industry employment to increase by 360,500 or 4.4 percent, above the 3.1 percent growth rate for total non-farm payroll employment. Projected subsector employment growth rates range from 0.7% for painting and wall covering contractors to 7.9 percent for power and communication line and related structures construction. The construction occupations that are projected to add the most jobs (whether employed in construction or other sectors) are construction laborers (106,500 jobs or 7.3 percent), electricians (77,400, 9.5 percent), and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (49,000, 5.3 percent), plus construction managers (48,100, 8.7 percent). Construction trades are projected to experience an annual separation rate of 7.7 percent of employment (compared to 10.6% for all occupations), with 3.1 percent of workers leaving the labor force and 4.7 percent transferring to unrelated occupations.
