The April job report from the Office of Labor Statistics, published on May 2 A little surprising in general Labor gains, with an increase of 177,000 jobs during the month. And thanks to specialized trade contractors, in particular construction was one of the industries that added workers last month, publishing a global gain of 11,000 positions.
Specialized trade contractors, including residential and non -residential companies, collectively showed a global gain of 9,000 positions. Contractors who mainly carry out non -residential construction work added about 4,900 estimated workers during April, while residential specialty companies reported an estimated gain of 4,100 positions.
According to BLS, building contractors also increased occupation, adding about 2,900 positions last month. Here, however, residential and non -residential diverging in terms of hiring, with residential contractors showing a decrease of 700 positions, while non -residential builders added 3,600 employees.
In contrast, however, the category of heavy and civil engineering construction showed a decrease of 500 positions, according to the report.
Do the wage rates feed on continuous work gains?
Anirban Basu, who incorporated 11,000 positions into the industry in April “ perfectly acceptable ”, the associated builders and the economist into any of the contractors, Anirban Basu, “ despite the fact that the weak construction spending data for March and several economic heads, including high interest rates, loans standards and the uncertainty of commercial policy, Backlog remains high enough to maintain the employment of industry. growing over time. “
At the same time, however, Basu said: “At the moment, contractors remain widely optimistic, according to the ABC construction confidence rate, and staff levels throughout the industry continue to expand.”
Ken Simonson, an economist in chief of the general associated contractors of America, who quoted the analysis of the association’s government data, credited the industry’s salary rates as a main reason for continuing work benefits.
“The construction industry continued to add workers to a faster clip than other sectors in April, as the industry increased more than other private businessmen,” Simonson said in a statement. “But uncertainty about rates and other political investments can lead to a stop for many job projects and projects.”
At the same time, Jeffrey D. Shoaf, CEO of AGC, commented that “ keeping construction costs stable is key to starting many projects that have been stopped by market uncertainties.The best way to do this is to encourage more people to pursue high construction careers and take steps to mitigate the impacts of rates on construction costs. ”
The industry will probably continue to be challenged to find enough work force. In April, ABC said that the construction unemployment rate increased to 5.6%, while the national rate remained by 4.2%.
