US Construction Employment Increases in July

A closer look at Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) US nonfarm payroll report for July, with a focus on residential construction employment and additional analysis by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that employment in the construction sector increased by 25,000 in July. This is up from a gain of 20,000 in June. While residential construction gained 9,100 jobs, nonresidential construction employment added 16,200 jobs.

Residential construction employment now stands at 3.4 million. That is broken down as 950,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors.

The six-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 6,067 per month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 67,600 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,387,400 positions.

In July, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose to 4.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has remained at a relatively lower level after reaching 15.3% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the pandemic.