ABC: Construction employment rebounds in September

Nearly half of ABC members expect their staffing levels to increase over the next six months, while fewer than 12% expect them to contract.

The construction industry added 19,000 jobs on net in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 38,000 jobs, an increase of 0.5%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 16,300 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added 11,100 jobs, while heavy and civil engineering and nonresidential building added 4,900 and 300 jobs, respectively.

The construction unemployment rate increased to 3.8% in September. Unemployment across all industries increased from 4.3% in August to 4.4% last month.

“Construction employment increased in September, ending a streak of three consecutive monthly declines,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Despite the rebound, the industry has added just 2,000 jobs since March. While weakness is largely concentrated in the residential segment, with nonresidential employment growing at a modest pace over the past year, recent construction spending data suggests that activity in the nonresidential segment is beginning to contract as well.

“Even with the industry’s paltry job growth in 2025, the construction unemployment rate remained relatively low in September at 3.8%,” said Basu. “While that dynamic — tepid hiring but stable unemployment — indicates a lack of labor force growth, construction wages grew at a healthy pace for the month, suggesting that labor shortages are no longer putting significant upward pressure on labor costs.

“Contractors remain confident that hiring will pick back up over the next six months,” said Basu. “Nearly half of ABC members expect their staffing levels to increase over the next six months, while fewer than 12% expect them to contract, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index. Because the BLS will not publish October employment data due to the government shutdown, the industry won’t have another assessment of its labor market health until the November data are published on December 16.”