ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator is the only economic indicator that reflects the amount of work that will be performed by commercial and industrial construction contractors in the months ahead. The Construction Confidence Index is a diffusion index that signals construction contractors’ expectations for sales, profit margins and staffing levels. View the methodology for both indicators. 

 

News Releases

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News Releases

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—The construction industry added 25,000 jobs on net in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has risen by 294,000 jobs, an increase of 3.9%.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4—The construction industry registered 388,000 job openings in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings declined by 2,000 last month but are up 22,000 from the same time last year.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3—The not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate dropped 1.1% in September 2022 from a year ago, down from 4.5% to 3.4%, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors. Forty-two states had lower unemployment rates over the same period, Arkansas and Wisconsin were unchanged and six states were higher. Almost half of the states had estimated construction unemployment rates at or below 3%.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2—The construction industry added 16,000 jobs on net in August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has risen by 311,000 jobs or 4.2%.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1—National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.8% in July, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $847.6 billion for the month.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2—The construction industry added 26,000 jobs on net in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last five months, the industry has added 689,000 jobs, recovering approximately 64% of the jobs lost since the start of the pandemic.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4—Construction industry employment expanded by 16,000 jobs on net in August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the last four months, the industry added 658,000 jobs, recovering approximately 61% of the jobs lost during March and April.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7—The construction industry added 20,000 jobs on net in July, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last three months, the industry has added 639,000 jobs, recovering roughly 59% of the jobs lost since the start of the pandemic-induced recession.

WASHINGTON, June 5—The construction industry added 464,000 net new jobs in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May represented the largest monthly increase in construction jobs since the government began tracking employment in 1939, a drastic improvement from April, which recorded the industry’s largest month-over-month job loss.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6—The construction industry added 1,000 net new jobs in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 146,000 jobs, an increase of 2.0%. 

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1—The construction industry added 10,000 net new jobs in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 148,000 jobs or 2%.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 – The construction industry added 7,000 net new jobs in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 156,000 jobs, an increase of 2.1%. 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6—The construction industry added 14,000 net new jobs in August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 177,000 jobs, or 2.4%. 

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2—The construction industry added 4,000 net new jobs in July, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 202,000 net jobs, an increase of 2.8%. 

WASHINGTON, June 7 – The construction industry added 4,000 net new jobs in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, construction employment has expanded by 215,000 jobs, an increase of 3.0%.Nonresidential employment lost 1,500 net jobs last month but is up by 136,000 jobs compared to the same time last year. 

WASHINGTON, April 5—The construction industry added 16,000 net new jobs in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment is up 246,000 jobs, representing a 3.4% increase. Nonresidential employment added 3,200 net new jobs last month, with the bulk of growth among nonresidential specialty contractors, which added 5,500 net new jobs. Heavy and civil engineering added 600 jobs, while the nonresidential building category lost 2,900 positions. 

WASHINGTON, March 8—According to an analysis by the Associated Builders and Contractors of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry lost 31,000 net new jobs in February. Overall, nonresidential employment decreased by 20,400 net new positions compared to January, with losses split between nonresidential building (-3,000), heavy and civil engineering (-13,200) and nonresidential specialty contractors (-4,200). However, industry employment is up 223,000 jobs since February 2018, an increase of 3.1 percent.

National construction employment decreased by 16,000 jobs in December, according to a Jan. 10 report by the U.S. Department of Labor.  Nonresidential construction registered the bulk of job losses, contributing 88.1 percent of total construction industry job loss and losing 14,100 positions on a monthly basis.  

ABC construction economic releases are published according to this schedule in 2023

For media inquiries, please contact Erika Walter, ABC director of media relations, at [email protected].

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