August Construction Job Openings Decline

A closer look into the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), with an eye towards the construction sector, reveals that the August open position count declined in step with the overall declines being reported in the JOLTS report for the month. In August there were 264,000 job sector openings. That figure is below both the July 2020 count, as well as below the August 2019 count of 353,000. The construction sector hiring rate continues to adjust to lower with the July and August rates holding at 5.5%, which is the same percentage reported a year ago.