September Construction Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report Released, Including State-By-State Breakdown

A closer look at the September 2021 Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) report by state, which was released on Friday (10-22-21) by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and covers business as of the last day in August, with an emphasis on construction employment and analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that across the 48 states which reported construction sector jobs data — which includes both residential as well as non-residential construction — 30 states reported an increase in September compared to August, while 16 states lost construction sector jobs.

Iowa and Kansas reported no change. Texas added 8,900 construction jobs while Tennessee lost 2,800.

Overall, the construction industry added 22,000 jobs in September compared to the previous month. In percentage terms, Connecticut increased by 3.0% while Alaska reported a decline of 4.9% between August and September.

Year-over-year, construction sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 191,000, which is a 2.6% increase compared to the September 2020 level. California added 35,600 jobs, which was the largest gain of any state, while New York lost 11,700 jobs, which was the largest decline.

In percentage terms, West Virginia had the highest annual growth rate in the construction sector by 10.8%. Over this period, Wyoming reported the largest decline at 7.2%.