Construction employment increased by 26,000 jobs in September, according to the Associated General Contractors of America, bringing the total to 7.2 million.
The unemployment rate was 7.1% for the month, more than double September 2019’s 3.2% rate, and an estimated 700,000 former construction workers are idled.
The employment gains for the month were concentrated in the housing sector.
“Construction is becoming steadily more split between a robust residential component and generally stagnant private nonresidential and public construction activity,” Ken Simonson, the AGC’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Since June, residential construction employment has increased nearly 3%, while nonresidential employment has dropped 0.2%.
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