The U.S. construction industry added 19,000 jobs on net in September, according to an analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction employment has grown by 38,000 jobs year-over-year, an increase of 0.5%.
At the same time, the construction unemployment rate increased to 3.8% in September from 3.2% in August as unemployment in all industries increased from 4.3% in August to 4.4% in September.
“Even with the industry’s paltry job growth in 2025, the construction unemployment rate remained relatively low in September at 3.8%,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While that dynamic—tepid hiring but stable unemployment—indicates a lack of labor force growth, construction wages grew at a healthy pace for the month, suggesting that labor shortages are no longer putting significant upward pressure on labor costs.”
ABC contractors remain confident that hiring will pick up in the next six months, with nearly half of ABC members expecting to increase their staffing levels in that time, Basu added.
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