Dive Brief:
- Construction job openings jumped in November after hitting an "extraordinarily low level” in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Construction employers reported 292,000 job openings on the last day of November, up 90,000 from October and 15,000 higher than the same time last year, according to the report.
- Project uncertainty, however, continues to suppress construction hiring activity as a whole, keeping hiring historically sluggish, according to industry economists.
Dive Insight:
The November increase marks the first year-over-year gain in construction job openings since July, said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist. The pace of construction industry layoffs also plunged to the lowest level of 2025, according to the report.
That matches the second-lowest rate ever recorded. Despite those positive trends, many firms are maintaining a “low-hire, low-fire stance,” according to an Associated General Contractors of America statement sent to Construction Dive.
The hires rates as a share of total employment reached 4.1%, matching the November 2024 rate and the lowest in the 25-year history of November readings, according to AGC. Basu reinforced that cautious stance in the ABC release.
“While these dynamics suggest that demand for construction workers accelerated in November, hiring remains slower than at any point on record prior to 2020,” said Basu. “The month-to-month volatility of JOLTS data and persistently sluggish pace of hiring could temper optimism inspired by today’s release.”
The figures suggest contractors are still advertising for workers but are being cautious about adding to their current headcount, Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist, told Construction Dive. That hesitancy comes at a time when many owners are “delaying, canceling or scaling back projects,” he said.
Nevertheless, contractors remain relatively upbeat about expanding their staffing levels during the first half of 2026, according to the ABC report.
