Construction Employment on the Rise Across Most of the Country

The construction industry gained 10,000 jobs in October, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly half of those job gains (4,600) were in Florida. New York, meanwhile, lost 3,000 construction jobs last month.

The construction sector data includes both residential and non-residential construction. Forty-eight states reported construction sector jobs data. Twenty-eight states had an increase for the month, 18 states reported a decline compared to September, and Maine and Missouri were unchanged.

Year-over-year, the U.S added 148,000 construction sector jobs, a 2% increase compared to October 2018. Texas added 51,400 jobs, the largest yearly gains of any state, while Louisiana lost 9,700 jobs, the largest decline. In percentage terms, Nevada had the highest annual growth rate in the construction sector at 13.1%. Louisiana reported the largest annual decline percentage-wise at 6.4%.

According to the BLS data, total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment rose by 128,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.6%. Compared to September’s totals, employment increased in October in 30 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 18 states. Year-over-year, total nonfarm employment increased by 2.1 million jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, up 1.4% from a year ago.

See more from NAHB’s economics team in this Eye on Housing blog post.

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