Workforce
Construction Gains 10,000 Jobs in November
Construction employment rose by 211,000, or 2.6%, for the 12 months ended in November.
Illustration by Scott Hilling/ENR. Original elements by Getty Images
Construction employment continued its recent climb, recording a modest increase of 10,000 in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.
The latest monthly BLS employment report, released on Dec. 6, also showed that within the industry’s total, the nonresidential specialty trade contractors category posted the best results for the month, adding 7,000 jobs. Residential specialty contractors gained 1,700 positions, while heavy and civil engineering construction, which includes infrastructure, added 1,500 workers.
On the minus side was nonresidential building construction, which saw a loss of 1,700 positions.
Using another yardstick, the industry’s total employment rose by 211,000, or 2.6% for the 12 months ended in November.
Construction Economists' Analyses
Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist, said in a statement: “Job gains in both homebuilding and nonresidential building construction have slowed over the past year.” Simonson added, “But contractors have been hanging onto workers, a sign that they expect work to pick up soon.”
He also said that a separate BLS report, released on Dec. 3, showed that construction layoffs declined to 97,000 in October, the lowest monthly figure since the bureau began that set of data. Simonson said that indicates contractors expect to need more workers in the near term, even with the moderate increase in jobs last month.
Construction’s unemployment rate showed mixed results in the latest employment report. The rate rose to 4.6% in November, from October’s 4.2%. But the rate was down from the year-earlier mark of 4.8%.
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The bureau’s jobs figures are adjusted for seasonal factors; its unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Anirban Basu, the Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist, noted in a statement that although construction’s November jobs gain was modest, it exceeded the U.S. economy’s overall growth. “More importantly,” Basu added, “economy-wide job gains rebounded in November, with an increase of 227,000 compared with October’s surprisingly small increase 36,000, according to the preliminary BLS figure.
The national unemployment rate edged up to 4.3% from October's 4.2%.
Basu said that the November bounce back in overall jobs is a confirmation that “October’s paltry job growth was indeed a result of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.”
Basu sees improved odds that the Federal Reserve will trim interest rates in December. He added, “For the construction industry, there is plenty of reason for optimism,” due to prospects for a reduction in interest rates and contractors’ expectations of increased sales in the next six months.
