US construction firms added 31,000 workers in October as the industry’s unemployment rate declined to 6.2 percent amid robust demand for construction, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that construction employment is now at the highest level since February 2009 as the sector continues to recover from the downturn.
“The industry continues to recover while the hiring slowdowns it experienced during the summer were prompted more by labor shortages than they were any slump in demand,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Construction firms appear to have had an easier time finding workers in October than they did during the summer.”
Construction employment totaled 6,434,000 in October, the most since February 2009, and is up by 233,000 jobs compared to a year ago, a 3.8 percent increase. Residential construction increased by 6,000 in October and by 99,100, or 4.2 percent, compared to a year ago. Nonresidential construction employers added 24,900 jobs for the month and 133,800 jobs compared to last October, a 4.5 percent increase.
The number of unemployed jobseekers in September who last worked in construction totaled 534,000, the lowest figure for October since 2006. The unemployment rate for such workers was 6.2 percent, the lowest October number since 2007. Meanwhile, Census Bureau data released on November 2 showed that the growth in construction spending accelerated to a seven-year high of 14.1 percent in the latest 12 months, September 2014 to September 2015.