Residential Construction Employment Increases Again in July

A deeper look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Situation report for July 2020, shows that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.8 million in July. The unemployment has fallen to 10.2%.  In regard to construction specifically, residential construction employment increased by 24,00 in July to a total of 2.8 million jobs.  The breakdown in residential construction employment shows there are 815,000 builders and 2.0 million residential specialty trade contractors. Nonresidential employment, however, declined by 4,000 jobs. The total construction industry, both residential and nonresidential, employment numbers jumped to nearly 7.2 million jobs in July. The unemployment rate for construction workers in July dropped to 11.3% on a seasonally adjusted bases, from 12.0% in June. Over the past ten years, the unemployment rate for construction works had trended lower and remained at a relatively low level in the beginning of 2020. According to the report, the recent unemployment rate reflects the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry.