Construction employment, seasonally adjusted, totaled 7,903,000 in April, a gain of 15,000 from March and 205,000 (2.7%) year-over-year (y/y), according to AGC’s analysis [8] of data the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) posted [9] on Friday. Residential construction employment (residential building and specialty contractors) rose by 14,200 in April and 57,000 (1.8%) y/y. Nonresidential construction employment (building, specialty trade, and heavy and civil engineering construction firms) rose by 800 for the month and 147,500 (3.3%) y/y. Seasonally adjusted average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction (craft and office) rose 6.7% y/y to $33.94 per hour. The “premium” for hourly construction workers rose to 18.6% over the private sector average of $28.62 but remained considerably below the average premium in 2000-2019 of 21.5%. The unemployment rate for workers with construction experience declined from 4.6% in April 2022 to 4.1%, the lowest April rate in the 24-year history of the series. 

Construction spending (not adjusted for inflation) totaled $1.83 trillion in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up 0.3% from the downwardly revised February rate and up 3.8% y/y, the Census Bureau reported [10] on May 1. However, without a deflator, it is impossible to say how much of the y/y gain is in units vs. price. Private residential construction decreased for the 10th-straight month, by 0.2%, with single-family homebuilding down 0.8%, multifamily construction spending up 0.4%, and owner-occupied improvements up 0.3%. Private nonresidential construction spending rose 1.0%. The largest private nonresidential segment (based on the seasonally adjusted March rate)—manufacturing construction—rose 4.6% (including computer/electronic/electrical, up 11%, and chemical and pharmaceutical, up 0.6%). Commercial construction fell 3.1% (consisting of warehouse, unchanged; retail, down 2.7%; and farm, up 0.9%). Power declined 0.3% (with electric power down 0.2% and oil and gas field structures and pipelines down 0.8%). Private office and data center construction increased 0.3%. Public construction spending fell 0.6%. The largest public segment, highway and street construction, dipped 0.1%. Public education climbed 0.7%. Public transportation construction retreated 1.6%.

The Dodge Momentum Index fell 5.1% in April but rose 11% y/y, Dodge Construction Network reported [11] on Friday. The index “is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.” The commercial component tumbled 8.0% for the month but climbed 7.0% y/y. The institutional component increased 0.3% for the month and 17% y/y.

There were 355,000 job openings in construction, not seasonally adjusted, at the end of March, a decrease of 92,000 (-21%) y/y from the all-time March high of 447,000 in 2022, BLS reported [12] on Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release. Hires for the full month totaled 407,000, an increase of 1,000 (0.2%) y/y. 

Construction employment, not seasonally adjusted, rose y/y in March in 259 (72%) of the 358 metro areas (including divisions of larger metros) for which BLS posts [13] construction employment data, fell in 60 (17%), and was unchanged in 39, according to an analysis [12] AGC released on Wednesday. (AGC treats as construction-only the totals for metros in which BLS reports combined totals for mining, logging, and construction.) The Dallas-Plano-Irving division added the most jobs (11,300 combined jobs or 7%), followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (8,900 construction jobs, 6%). The largest percentage gains were in Fairbanks, Alaska (20%, 400 construction jobs) and Midland, Texas (18%, 6,100 combined jobs). The largest losses occurred in Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade (-6,800 construction jobs, -9%) and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale division (-6,600 construction jobs, -4%). The largest percentage loss occurred in Lawton, Okla. (-26%, -500 combined jobs). 

Highway contractors are invited to complete AGC’s annual highway work zone safety survey [14] by May 12. Responses will be kept confidential. AGC will use the information from this survey as the main focus of a media and public education campaign we will launch the week before Memorial Day and the traditional start of the summer driving season.

Chief economists Ken Simonson, AGC; Kermit Baker, American Institute of Architects; and Alex Carrick, ConstructConnect will present their views on the construction and design outlook in a webinar [15] on May 9, 2-3:30 pm ET.