Construction employment, seasonally adjusted, totaled 8.26 million in July, a gain of 25,000 from June and 239,000 (3 percent) year-over-year (y/y), according to Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The y/y growth rate outpaced the 1.6 percent increase in total nonfarm payroll employment. Residential construction employment rose by 9,100 in July (1,700 at residential building firms and 7,400 at specialty contractors) and 67,600 (2 percent) y/y. Nonresidential construction employment increased by 16,200 for the month (2,000 at building firms, 11,300 at specialty trade contractors, and 2,900 at heavy and civil engineering construction firms) and 172,300 (3.7 percent) y/y.
Labor costs for nonresidential firms outpaced other sectors: seasonally adjusted average hourly earnings (AHE) for production and nonsupervisory employees rose 3.8 percent y/y for the total private sector, 4.4 percent for all construction (i.e., most craft and office workers), 5.3 percent (through June) for nonresidential building firms, and 5.1 percent (through June) for heavy and civil firms.
The industry unemployment rate in July, not seasonally adjusted, was 3.9 percent, unchanged from July 2023, and the number of unemployed jobseekers with construction experience totaled 420,000, an increase of 10,000 (2.4 percent) y/y.