Dive Brief:

• The U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January, bolstered in large part by the creation of 39,000 positions in construction, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

• Only the retail sector added more jobs than construction, the government said. Employment increased by 13,000 in the non-residential construction sector, by 7,000 in the housing sector, and by 13,000 among specialty trades.

• Unemployment across all industries increased slightly to 5.7% in January, which economists said reflects an increase of 700,000 who entered the job market. In construction, the jobless rate dipped to 9.8%. At the same time, the average hourly wage for a construction employee rose by 0.5% from the previous year.

Dive Insight:

Contractors have added 308,000 jobs over the past 12 months, bringing total employment in January to more than 6 million. But what seems like good news for the overall economy continues to create a hardship for construction firms, which have struggled for the past few years to fill the jobs they have created.

As the spring building season approaches, contractors are likely to continue to turn down jobs because they can’t hire enough skilled laborers and professionals to run them. Noted Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America: "Worker availability challenges have replaced a lack of projects as the biggest worry for many contractors."