The number of employment openings under construction fell to 188,000 in August, according to the Work Open Survey and job turnover (shaken) published today by the United States Labor Statistics Office (BLS).
The figure is 115,000 lower than it was reported in July and is also the lowest rate recorded since November 2015, through the calculations of the Builders and associated contractors (ABC).
“Construction work openings fell in August, falling to the lowest rate in almost a decade,” said Anirban Basu, ABC’s main economist, in a statement. “Although this series of data is usually volatile from month to month, the precipitate decline of job openings is aligned with other indicators such as construction and employment spending, both fallen in recent months.
The number of hires reached 353,000 in August, to the previous 331,000 months, while total separations, which include abandonments, dismissals and downloads, as well as any other labor separation, increased to 351,000 from July 316,000. Annually, total work openings fell 116,000 positions since August 2024.
“Recent data has made it clear that the construction industry is currently hiring,” said Basu. However, “contractors remain relatively optimistic over the next six months, according to the ABC construction confidence rate.”
