The construction industry added 19,000 jobs in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of data released by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has increased by 174,000 jobs, an increase of 2.1 percent.
Nonresidential construction employment increased by 6,200 positions, with growth in all three subcategories. Heavy and civil engineering added the most jobs, increasing by 2,500 positions, followed by nonresidential specialty trade, which added 2,000 jobs. Nonresidential building added 1,700 jobs last month.
The construction unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in February, while unemployment across all industries increased from 4 percent in January to 4.1 percent in February.
“The February jobs report suggests that contractors’ ongoing optimism, as seen in ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, is justified,” says ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “The industry added 19,000 jobs in February, making it the strongest month of growth since the third quarter of 2024, and the sizable jump in the industry unemployment rate indicates that the labor supply can accommodate ongoing hiring.
“Economy-wide job growth was also perfectly decent, with U.S. employers adding 151,000 jobs [in February]. Following several weeks of concerning economic data and rising economic uncertainty, a good but boring jobs report is a welcome development,” says Basu. “Federal government employment declined by 10,000 and will likely fall further in the coming months, but that segment is just 2 percent of overall employment. Federal job and spending cuts, as well as elevated uncertainty, could eventually diminish construction activity at the margins, but those effects have yet to appear in these employment data.”