Construction Sector Job Openings Increased in December
Uptick for Construction Job Openings in December
A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Opening and Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for December, which was released on Wednesday (2-1-23), with a focus on the construction sector and additional analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that the construction job openings rate increased by 5% month-over-month, going from 331,000 in November to 413,000 in December. The series high of 5.5% was recorded in April 2022.
Construction sector layoffs inched higher to a rate of 2% in December. In April 2020, the layoff rate was 10.8%. However, since that time, the sector layoff rate has remained been below 3%, with exception of February 2021 (due to weather-related issues). Year-over-year, the number of layoffs in construction increased from 133,000 in December 2021 to 153,000 in December 2022.
The number of quits recorded in the construction sector in December 2022 was 125,000, significantly below the 161,000 reported in December 2021.
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