Highly powered by the hiring of specialized contractors of 14,600 new employees, the construction industry experienced a global increase of 19,000 jobs in February, according to the report of jobs on March 7 of the Office of the United States. The latter global gain provides an increase of 174,000 industry positions during the last twelve months.
At the same time, BLS reported that the February construction unemployment rate was 7.2%, an increase of January 6.5%and 7.0%last February.
The vast majority of new hires of special trade contractors were among the companies working in the residential construction sector, which collectively added 12,600 jobs during February, according to BLS. Non -residential specialized trade contractors occupied an estimated 2,000 positions during the month.
The reverse was true for the construction of contractors, and companies working in the non -residential sector contributed to the vast majority of new positions, with 1,700 of the global increase of 1,800 jobs in the category.
The heavy and civil engineering construction companies added approximately 2,500 positions in February, according to BLS, while the building contractors hired approximately 1,800 employees during the month.
“The February work report suggests that the continuous optimism of contractors, as seen in the ABC’s confidence index, is justified,” said Anirban Basu, associated builders and economist in any of the contractors, in a statement.
Basu commented that the addition of 19,000 jobs in the construction industry means that in February, “the month of growth since the third quarter of 2024, and the great unemployment rate in the industry indicates that the employment supply can accommodate continuous hiring”.
Basu called for the addition of 151,000 jobs in the general economy in February “perfectly decent”, Basu commented that “after several weeks on economic data and the increase in economic uncertainty, a good job report is a welcome development.”
Despite labor gains through construction in February, Basu added: “Federal work and expensal cuts, as well as high uncertainty, could end up decreasing construction activity on the margins, but these effects have not yet appeared in this employment data.”
He also acknowledged the solid industry work growth in February was Ken Simonson, general contractors associated with the main economist in America, but also expressed concern for the future.
“The growth of construction work reached a maximum of five months in February, after several months of unimportant gains,” Simonson said in a statement. “However, industry occupation and salary growth have been reduced for much of the last year. Uncertainty, especially with regard to immigration rates and policies, is causing new projects to stop and prevent construction from construction from increasing. “”
In addition, the AGC press declaration added that, in addition to the uncertainty of the impact of rates on material prices, “the Trump administration’s decision to end the work authorizations for workers in various countries is reducing an already adjusted labor market, which makes companies difficult to maintain the pace of construction demand”.
