Construction Job Market Rebounds

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the number of open construction industry jobs rebounded in August after a period of slowdown caused by losses in some areas of residential building.

However, the number of construction job vacancies remains marginally lower than a year ago.

After revisions, the whole economy’s number of open jobs grew marginally in August, from 7.71 million to 8.04 million. This is far lower than the 9.36 million prediction from a year ago, but the monthly increase reflects a reasonably resilient labor market.

Previous NAHB study indicated that this number needed to fall below 8 million on a consistent basis for the Federal Reserve to be more confident about labor market conditions and their potential influence on inflation.

The Fed has started a credit easing cycle, with national job vacancies expected to remain at 8 million.

The number of open construction jobs increased from a revised, modest reading of 232,000 in July to 370,000 in August.

Elements of the construction sector slowed in previous months as restrictive Fed policy lingered.

However, with the August comeback for available construction industry employment, the number of job openings is essentially unchanged when compared to the previous year’s projection of 386,000 in August 2023.

The construction job openings rate also climbed, reaching 4.3% in August following several months of low readings.

In August, the construction layoff rate jumped to 2.0% from 1.9% in July. The construction quit rate fell marginally to 2.1% in August, down from 2.2% the previous month.

[Read more about this topic on Eyeonhousing.org]