Nonresidential Construction Adds Jobs

Credit: ABC

By Associated Builders and Contractors 

The construction industry added 51,000 net new jobs in December, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last eight months, the industry has added 857,000 jobs, recovering 79.1 percent of the jobs lost during the earlier stages of the pandemic. 

Nonresidential construction employment added 29,000 net jobs in December. Nonresidential building was the only subsegment that experienced a net loss in jobs, contracting by 4,300 positions. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 18,300 jobs for the month, while heavy and civil engineering added 15,000. 

The construction unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in December from 7.3 percent in November and is up 4.6 percentage points from the same time last year. Unemployment across all industries remained unchanged at 6.7 percent. (Source)