The construction industry added 2,000 jobs in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industry employment has increased by 200,000 jobs, an increase of 2.6%, on a year-over-year basis.
ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu noted that the industry has added jobs at a significantly faster pace than the broader economy over the past year, particularly for the nonresidential sector, in which employment has increased by 3.2% over the past year.
The construction unemployment rate rose to 4.8% in November; unemployment across all industries decreased from 3.9% in October to 3.7%.
“Faster hiring in the industry has coincided with worsening labor shortages, and that has led to rapid increases in labor costs,” Basu stated. “Average hourly earnings for construction employees increased at a faster pace than economy-wide earnings on both a monthly and yearly basis in November." He also noted that nearly half of contractors plan to increase their staffing levels in the next six months.
The full report can be found here.
