Around 7,800 nonresidential specialty trade jobs were created last month, a category seeing the greatest employment growth in the overall construction industry, according to just-released federal figures.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting that, overall, the national construction industry hired 9,000 new workers in April, part of a year-to-year increase of 258,000 jobs.
In a statement, Anirban Basu, chief economist with the Associated Builders and Contractors, remarked: “It is really quite remarkable that the nation’s nonresidential construction sector continues to add jobs so consistently in an environment characterized by elevated project financing costs.”
Year over year gains were also posted in the heavy and civil engineering category, with 42,000 new jobs as of April; and the residential specialty trade sector, with nearly 49,000 new jobs since April of 2023.
“At the heart of growing demand for construction workers in America is the prevalence of mega projects in many parts of the country,” added Basu, “including major manufacturing plants, data centers, and public works.”
Employment in April in all categories was up by 175,000 new jobs, according to the BLS, a number below the 240,000 that many analysts were forecasting for the month. The 175,000 figure, in fact, represented the smallest job growth pace since last October.
The country’s current job market, notes the New York Times, “may be shifting into a lower gear this spring, a turn that economists have predicted for months after a vigorous rebound from the pandemic shock.”
Looking at all industries, the health care sector was up by 56,000 new jobs in April, which the BLS report characterized as “in line with the average monthly gain of 63,000 over the prior twelve months.”
Social assistance employment, meanwhile, was up by 31,000; with transportation and warehousing work seeing an increase of 22,000.
Other gainers: retail trade, up by 20,000 new jobs since April of 2023; and general merchandise retailers, with 10,000 more jobs.
Noting that April also showed an unemployment rate of 3.9%, Julie Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, remarked in a statement: “This continues the longest stretch of such low unemployment in more than half a century.”
By Garry Boulard
Image Credit: Courtesy of Pixabay
