The construction industry added 9,000 jobs on net in April, according to an Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Year over year, industry employment has expanded by 50,000 jobs, an increase of 0.6 percent.
In April, nonresidential construction employment increased by 19,000 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trades added the most jobs, increasing by 12,600 positions. Nonresidential building and heavy and civil engineering added 5,600 and 800 jobs, respectively, in April.
The construction unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in April, with unemployment across all industries remaining unchanged at 4.3 percent – 0.1 percentage point higher than it was a year ago.
“Construction employment expanded modestly in April, but that’s largely due to weakness on the residential side of the industry,” says Anirban Basu, ABC’s chief economist. “Nonresidential construction employment rose at a healthy pace for the month and is up a respectable 2.0% over the past year. This strength can be traced to surging data center construction spending, which is up 34% over the past year. It also helps explain why ABC member expectations for hiring remain elevated, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, despite tepid industrywide job growth.”
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