The residential construction industry added 9,100 jobs from June to July, but the industry is lagging as the construction unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in July, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The residential construction industry added 9,100 jobs from June to July, but the industry is lagging as the construction unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in July, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The construction industry as a whole added 25,000 jobs in July and 239,000 jobs since July 2023, an increase of 3.0%. Meanwhile, nonresidential construction added 16,200 jobs in July.
“Nonresidential construction industry performance has tended to lag the performance of the overall economy by 12 to 18 months,” ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in a statement. “According to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, contractors collectively remain upbeat regarding their prospects for the next six months. But if the economy continues to weaken, and it appears poised to do precisely that, contractor confidence will begin to ebb.”
“It appears that America is headed into recession,” Basu added. “Unemployment is climbing rapidly. Consumer spending growth has become more sluggish. U.S. equity markets are generating large losses, an indication that America is caught in a growth scare and that there is a growing consensus that the Federal Reserve has waited too long to begin reducing interest rates.”
Read ABC’s full report here.
