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Dive brief:
- Construction job postings sank to an “extraordinarily low” level in October, indicating a a persistent cooling of labor demandaccording to an analysis of Associated Builders and Contractors from the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
- Construction employers posted 213,000 job openings on the last day of October, down 18,000 from September and down 36,000 a year. The report considers a job opening to be any unfilled position for which an employer is actively hiring.
- Openings fell as hiring also fell sharply, another sign that construction activity slowed for most of this year, according to ABC.
Diving knowledge:
The total for October was maintained job offers at a silent levela trend that has continued throughout 2025. The pattern aligns with other indicators that point to aa broader sector slowdown outside of booming construction niches, such as data center construction.
“The number of open and unfilled construction jobs remained unusually low in October,” ABC chief economist Anirban Basu said in the statement. “The construction industry has been in a state of contraction for most of 2025.”
The job openings report stands as the most current snapshot of job activity, like other construction economic releases remained lagging following the recent government shutdown. Basu said more up-to-date data won’t be available until later this month.
However, contractors still show up signs of trust in the coming months, Basu said. Many companies are still planning to expand their workforce as they prepare for the opportunities that will materialize in early 2026.
“Despite what has been a fairly dismal stretch of industry data, contractors remain upbeat about their hiring intentions over the next six months,” Basu said.
