US construction employment in decline despite ‘near-record’ job vacancies

The number of construction workers in employment fell even as the sector’s unemployment rate fell and the total number of job vacancies in the sector hit a near-record high, reported the AGC.

AGC officials said the industry is struggling to replace ageing workers and is pushing for new construction training and education support, as well as immigration reform measures to encourage more people into the industry.

“Despite a small dip in headcount, construction firms continued to post a high level of job openings and raised pay more than other industries—two signs they still want to hire more workers,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But the pool of unemployed, experienced jobseekers keeps shrinking for the construction sector.”

Construction employment in March totalled 7,888,000. Seasonally adjusted, that is a dip of 9,000 or 0.1% from the record high in February 2023 and the first decrease in 14 months.

The unemployment rate among jobseekers with construction experience declined from 6.0% in March 2022 to 5.6% this year, the second-lowest March rate in the 23-year history of the data.

A separate government report released earlier this week reported that job vacancies in construction at the end of February reached 384,000, just shy of the all-time high for February of 388,000.

The AGC said that federal officials have failed to invest in construction education and training even as they have boosted investment in a wide range of construction programmes.

The Association has repeatedly called for more support for apprenticeships and other training programmes and recently urged Congress and the Biden administration to allow more workers with construction skills to lawfully enter the country to work in the sector.

“Firms are struggling to fill high-paying construction positions while many schools continue to push students to go to college, amass student debt and hope for an office job,” said Stephen Sandherr, the association’s chief executive. “Exposing students and other future workers to construction will signal that it should be among the career paths worth considering.”

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