The construction industry had just 276,000 jobs on the last day of November 2024, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Opportunities and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opportunity as any vacant position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Job openings in the industry increased by 17,000 last month but decreased by 178,000 compared to the same time last year.
“Construction employment rates fell to the second slowest rate on record in November 2024,” ABC chief economist Anirban Basu said. “This is especially important given that the slowest rate occurred in April 2020 as the pandemic brought construction activity to a halt. At the same time, rates of layoffs or quits remained near historic lows, suggesting that contractors and their employees were in a wait-and-see mode in November.
“Despite this relative stagnation, industry-wide employment increased in November, rising to the highest level since August,” Basu said. “More than half of contractors expect to increase their employment levels over the next six months, according to the ABC Construction Confidence Index, while less than 10% expect to reduce these levels, a sign that employment may rebound from a recent lull in the coming months.”
