Dive Brief:

• Construction counted 350,000 job openings on the last day of August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of jobs dropped less than 1% from July, but was up about 1.5% year over year.
• The rate of jobs for which employers in construction are actively recruiting has remained largely unchanged this summer: From May to August the rate has decreased slightly from 4.6% to 4.2%. 
• Notably, the number of quits in construction dropped by 15,000 from July to August, which Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors, attributed to labor constraints easing in industries that compete with construction for labor. Quits can indicate workers’ ability and willingness to leave jobs to pursue other positions, according to the BLS.

Dive Insight:

“The number of open, unfilled construction positions declined in August but remains higher than both one year ago and the pre-pandemic level,” wrote Basu.

Basu predicted last month the high demand in the labor market should continue to cool down.

The BLS described the number of nationwide hires, total separations, quits and layoffs as “little changed,” indicating some stability. 

Nonetheless, construction’s high demand for workers likely isn’t going away, Basu said, as he has for months. Contractors will continue to look to expand staffing in the next six months, so any improvements labor-wise will help “keep project costs under control.”