ABC: Construction industry employment up in April

The construction industry added 15,000 jobs in April, according to an Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Year over year, industry employment expanded by 205,000 jobs for an increase of 2.7 percent.

Nonresidential construction employment rose by 800 positions, with growth in only one of the three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 10,700 positions. The number of heavy and civil engineering jobs decreased 8,100, while nonresidential building lost 1,800 jobs.

The construction unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in April, according to ABC. Unemployment across all industries decreased to 3.4 percent.

“Despite adding just 800 net jobs in April, nonresidential construction payrolls have expanded at a faster pace than the broader economy over the past year,” says Anirban Basu, ABC’s chief economist. “Job creation continues to exceed expectations, and April saw the unemployment rate return to the lowest level since 1969. Put simply, the demand for workers remains significantly above the supply. This is especially true for contractors, a majority of whom intend to increase their staffing levels over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”

Basu says there are still signs of a softening economy despite what is happening within the labor market.

“The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again,” he says. “Meanwhile, regional banks remain under pressure. While it is conceivable that the end of the banking crisis is near, credit conditions are likely to tighten further during the months ahead. This is especially problematic for commercial real estate, which faces a debt maturity wall over the next four years. Developers and other private purchasers of construction services are likely to suffer difficulty refinancing debt going forward, dampening demand for new construction.”