Construction Employment Shows Resilience Despite Residential Sector Weakness
Key Highlights
- Construction employment increased by 9,000 jobs in April, with a 0.6% rise year-over-year
- Nonresidential construction added 19,000 jobs, led by specialty trades and data center projects
- The unemployment rate in construction remained low at 3.8%, indicating a tight labor market
- Data center construction spending surged 34% over the past year, boosting industry confidence
WASHINGTON, DC — According to data released May 8 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry added 9,000 jobs on net in April. Construction industry employment has expanded by 50,000 jobs, year-over-year, an increase of 0.6%.
Nonresidential construction employment led those April gains with an increase of 19,000 positions, and growth in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trades added the most jobs, increasing by 12,600 positions. Nonresidential building added 5,600 jobs; heavy and civil engineering added 800 jobs.
The construction unemployment rate was 3.8% in April. Unemployment across all industries remained unchanged at 4.3% and is 0.1 percentage point higher than it was a year ago.
“Construction employment expanded modestly in April, but that’s largely due to weakness on the residential side of the industry,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Nonresidential construction employment rose at a healthy pace for the month and is up a respectable 2.0% over the past year. This strength can be traced to surging data center construction spending, which is up 34% over the past year. It also helps explain why ABC member expectations for hiring remain elevated, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, despite tepid industrywide job growth.”
Visit abc.org/economics for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index, plus analysis of spending, employment, job openings and the Producer Price Index.