The construction industry added 64,000 labor openings in July, according to the job opening survey and job turnover (JOLTS) recently published by the United States Work Statistics Office. The number of openings reached 306,000, which is 77,000 higher than July 2024.
Despite the increase, Anirban Basu, an economist in Chief of Builders and Associated Contractors (ABC), is still skeptical of work growth in the industry. “The opening rate of construction work increased to the highest level in more than a year during July,” he said in a statement. “Given the continued decrease in non -residential construction expenditure [reported yesterday]However, this increase is probably attributable to immigration policy and its effects on the labor force of the industry instead of any increase in the demand for construction workers. “”
Total contracts were 342,000, below 348,000 in June, while total separations, including layoffs, downloads and abandonments, fell to 318,000 of 356,000. Year a year, the number of hires increased 3,000, and the separations fell into 6,000 in the same period of time.
“Less construction workers left their job in July than in no month for the last nine years, suggesting a widespread concern for labor security, while layoffs have jumped to the highest level since the first quarter of 2023,” said Basu. “That said, Jolls data can be volatile from month to month, and it is difficult to know the degree to which workers without documentation are or not are captured in data.”
