Residential building construction fared the best, with an increase of 6,700 positions, followed by residential specialty trade contractors, which picked up 5,900. Additionally, the heavy and civil engineering sector added 2,200 jobs.

But nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 3,300 jobs in September; nonresidential building construction also was down, but by only 200 jobs.

BLS also reported that construction’s unemployment rate edged down to 3.8%, from August’s 3.9%, but was up from the year-earlier 3.4%.

The BLS jobs numbers are adjusted for seasonal variations but its unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

ABC, AGC Economists' Analyses 

At the Associated Builders and Contractors, which focuses on nonresidential construction, Chief Economist Anirban Basu noted that the sector shed 1,300 jobs on net for September.

Nevertheless, Basu said, nonresidential construction gained jobs at a faster rate than the overall U.S. economy over the past 12 months.

“While a meaningful share of that hiring relates to infrastructure and large-scale manufacturing projects, several other subsegments, such as data centers and health care, enter the fourth quarter with momentum," Basu said in a statement.

“Hiring would likely be faster if not for ongoing skills and labor shortages," he added, repeating a long-running refrain in the industry.

Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist, said in a statement, “Construction firms have plenty of projects but a dip in nonresidential employment last month shows how hard it has been to find enough skilled workers.”

Simonson also noted that average hourly wages for construction production and nonsupervisory employees rose 5.5% in September from the year-earlier level. “Job openings remain stubbornly high, even though the industry has been raising hourly pay at an elevated rate,” he said.

Overall, the economy added more jobs than expected, posting an increase of 336,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%.