Overall construction employment stalled in April, matching the March total of 7.45 million, the Associated General Contractors of America reports.
Compared with the most recent construction employment peak in February 2020, construction employment is down 2.6%.
“Contractors are experiencing unprecedented intensity and range of cost increases, supply-chain disruptions, and worker shortages that have kept firms from increasing their workforces,” stated Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist. “These challenges will make it difficult for contractors to rebound as the pandemic appears to wane.”
The construction unemployment rate compared with April 2020 fell from 16.6% to 7.7%.
“The fact that employment has stalled—despite strong demand for new homes, remodeling of all types, and selected categories of nonresidential projects—suggests that contractors can’t get either the materials or the workers they need,” Simonson added.
Residential construction firms reported a gain of 3,000 employees in April; the residential construction sector has grown by 46,000 workers (1.6%) over the past 14 months. Nonresidential construction firms continued to trail behind, shedding 3,000 workers during the month and employing 5.2% fewer compared with February 2020.
The full AGC report can be found here.
