The United States construction industry increased employment by modest 4,000 jobs in January, continuing a recent hiring trend by contractors, according to the most recent report of the Office of Labor Statistics, Posted on February 7.
“The construction of the construction has been reduced to a crawl since October,” said the builders and the economist in chief of the contractors, Anirban Basu, in a statement.
For example, by comparison, BLS previously reported construction work, which increased by September 25,000. Then, for the next three months, the industry added only 26,000 positions.
According to the BLS report in January, the wide category of specialized trade contractors added a total of 3,500 jobs. This figure was the result of non -residential specialized trade contractors who added 5,600 positions in January, combined with a decrease of 2,100 jobs among residential specialized trade contractors.
Building contractors added only 3,000 jobs in general. Within this category, residential builders added 1,900 positions, while non -residential construction companies increased jobs by 1,100. In the meantime, the category of heavy and civil engineering recorded a decrease of 2,300 positions, according to BLS.
The slowdown in construction of construction “is largely a reflection of weakness in the residential sector,” said ABC’s base. He added that due to the “continued effects of high interest rates and the strong decrease in the number of housing units under construction, residential occupation should continue to go back on the next quarters.”
“The already tight labor market is becoming narrower in the construction sector,” said Jeffrey Shoaf, CEO of the General Associate Contractors of America, in a press release on February 7. “There are no new investments in training programs under construction and work authorization, it will be difficult for companies to keep pace in demand.”
The association pointed to that A survey of published member companies in The AGC of America/Sage 2025 The recruitment of the construction and the business prospects found that about 80% of the respondents “have difficulty finding enough workers to hire”.
The association added that “an increasing number of companies that report that workers are not shown in jobs in the midst of the increase in immigration activities activities.”
“The only way companies will be able to keep pace with a strong demand for construction is if enough people are available to build,” added Shoaf Agc. “That is why federal officials need to increase funding for construction education programs and expand legal work authorization programs for people with construction skills.”
