Construction employment, seasonally adjusted, totaled 8.28 million in August, a gain of 34,000 from July and 228,000 (2.8 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 1.5 percent increase in total nonfarm payroll employment.
Residential construction employment rose by 5,600 in August (4,800 at residential building firms and 800 at specialty contractors) and 63,100 (1.9 percent) y/y. Nonresidential construction employment increased by 28,300 for the month (800 at building firms, 14,000 at specialty trade contractors, and 13,500 at heavy and civil engineering construction firms) and 164,500 (3.5 percent) y/y. The seasonally adjusted average hourly earnings (AHE) for production and nonsupervisory employees rose 4.1 percent y/y for the total private sector, 3.8 percent for all construction (i.e., most craft and office workers), and (through July) 4.6 percent for nonresidential building firms, 3.5 percent for heavy and civil engineering construction firms, and 9.7 percent for residential building firms.
The industry unemployment rate in August, not seasonally adjusted, was 3.2 percent, the lowest August rate in the history of the series, and the number of unemployed jobseekers with construction experience totaled 338,000, a decrease of 86,000 (20 percent) y/y.