Nonresidential construction employment rose last month, as the industry added 31,000 jobs on net, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The industry has recovered approximately 90% of the jobs lost during earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nonresidential construction employment in November increased by 20,800 net positions, with all three subcategories posting gains for the month, according to ABC’s analysis.
Heavy and civil engineering and nonresidential specialty trade added 8,100 and 6,800 jobs, respectively, while nonresidential building employment expanded by 5,900 positions.
The construction unemployment rate rose to 4.7% last month, while unemployment across all industries declined from 4.6% in October to 4.2%, according to the analysis.
“Today’s jobs report will be viewed by many as a big miss thanks to the headline number, and that is a mistake,” ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said. “While many economists were expecting close to 600,000 jobs instead of the 210,000 figure that emerged today, there were many positive indications from today’s report. Among them is the fact that the labor force participation rate rose to 61.8% from 61.6%. While inflationary pressures are generally unpleasant, they may also be inducing more Americans to jump back into the labor force as life has become more expensive. That appears to have happened in November.”
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