US Construction Employment Falls by 11,000 in December

A closer look at Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) nonfarm payroll report, with analysis from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), shows that overall US construction employment fell by 11,000 jobs in December 2025. Year-over-year, construction employment increased by 14,000, a 0.2% gain.

Within nonresidential construction, employment declined by 7,800 positions on net. Heavy and civil engineering added 2,300 jobs, while nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 8,900 jobs and nonresidential building construction shed 1,200 jobs.

The construction unemployment rate stood at 5.0% in December. Across all industries, the unemployment rate was 4.4%, 0.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Commenting on the report, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said:

“The construction industry added just 14,000 net new jobs in 2025. Excluding the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, that’s the worst 12-month performance since 2011, when the construction industry was still spiraling from the Great Recession. While the nonresidential side of the industry performed significantly better over the past year, even that segment’s momentum has started to wane. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors, demand for which led the industry in 2025, posted its worst month in nearly four years, losing 8,900 jobs in December.

Despite this dismal performance, the industry’s unemployment rate remains relatively low, down 0.2 percentage points from the same time last year. This unusual dynamic—decreasing employment but a steady unemployment rate—likely reflects the effects of immigration policy on the industry’s workforce. As a result, average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory construction workers were up 4.5% year-over-year in both November and December, a sharp increase from the 3.9% increase observed in October. While contractors remain optimistic about hiring over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, recent declines in backlog, ongoing declines in construction spending, and December’s job losses suggest it could be a difficult start to 2026 for the industry.”