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The number of job openings in construction overall remained stable in July, though hiring in the home construction sector slowed that same month, according the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
On Wednesday, NAHB, in conjunction with the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from BLS reported that the number of open construction jobs remained at 137,000 for July (down from the peak of 168,000 in March) and that over three months, the number of construction jobs as a percent of total national employment held steady at 2.1 percent (close to May’s 2.4 percent peak). This rate, according to NAHB, has been trending upward since 2012.
However, the hiring rate is on the decline. According to the analyses, hiring rates dropped almost 5 percent in July, echoing a downward tend that’s held steady over the same three-month period BLS used to study job openings. Quit rates also held at 1.7 percent, meaning that construction workers are leaving jobs at the same rate they’ve been for months, but they’re not getting hired as often.
The unemployment rate for construction workers increased to 7.1 percent in August, from July’s 6.5 percent figure, though overall the unemployment rate for construction workers has been on the decline in 2015.
In the home building and remodeling sector, BLS reported that total employment is 2.46 million ‒‒ 694,000 builders and 1.76 million residential specialty trade contractors. The number of jobs in home building and remodeling increased by only 2,400 in August, however, while the average monthly employment gain is just over 4,200 over the last six months.
The good news, at least, is that more jobs are being made in the home building sector, even if the number of construction starts has cooled over the summer months. NAHB reported that over the past year, home builders and remodelers have added 111,000 net jobs on a net basis, and since the darkest days of the recession, have created 469,400 new positions.
