The construction industry recorded 305,000 job openings on the last day of June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 14,000 in June and are up by 81,000 from the same time last year.
ABC chief economist Anirban Basu cautioned that interpreting the data can be challenging.
“One could take these figures at face value and conclude that construction is thriving and driving demand for workers higher,” he said. “But June’s construction spending report indicates that overall residential and nonresidential construction spending continues to decline.”
Despite the increase in openings, construction hiring remains below year-ago levels. The industry recorded 323,000 hires in June 2026, down 7.7% from June 2025, even as job openings increased 36.2% over the same period.
Basu suggests there may be other explanations for the rise in construction job openings.
“Many contractors view a structural shortfall of skilled labor as their primary challenge because many highly experienced, productive workers are retiring,” he said. “It is conceivable that these workers are being replaced with less skilled and productive workers, thereby requiring a few workers to be replaced by many.”
Additionally, Basu said that some people working in construction were doing so without proper documentation.
“At least some of these workers are no longer available at jobsites, inducing faster hiring and expanding job openings as contractors work to replace them,” he said.
