Construction industry adds 34,000 jobs in August, report finds

The construction industry added 34,000 jobs in August and the sector unemployment rate fell to its lowest this month.

That’s according to a report by the Associated General Contractors drawing from government data. The construction unemployment rate fell to 3.2%, which is the lowest rate in August since the association tracked data 25 years ago.

Despite the historical data, AGC officials said more firms would have hired more workers if they could find qualified people.

“Construction job growth was the strongest in five months in August,” Ken Simonson, the chief economist of AGC, said in a statement. “But the record-low unemployment rate for jobseekers with construction experience shows how much difficulty contractors face in finding qualified workers,” he added. Simonson noted the 3.2% unemployment rate was a sign of steady demand for construction.

There were 8.28 million people working in construction in August, data showed. That was an increase of 34,000 from July, and the sector added 228,000 jobs (or 2.8%) during the past 12 months. It’s nearly double the 1.5% increase for total nonfarm employment.

Nonresidential construction firms added 28,300 employees, including 800 at building firms, 14,000 at specialty trade contractors and 13,500 at heavy and civil engineering construction firms, the report showed. Residential firms added 5,600 employees, including 4,800 builders and 800 specialty trade contractors.

Production and non-management construction employees saw their average hourly earnings rise by 3.8% over the year to $35.81 per hour, the report showed. Overall private sector pay for production workers rose 4.1% to $30.27, and wage premiums for hourly workers were just over 18% compared to the overall private sector, the report added.

In August, AGC released a survey showing that 94% of responding contractors said they had difficulty finding qualified workers. Officials called on the federal government to fund construction education and training programs, as the shortage held up project bidding.

“The jobs numbers would have been higher today if more firms could find qualified people to hire,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the chief executive officer of AGC. “Instead of boosting payrolls even further, contractors in many parts of the country are having to pass on bidding projects because there aren’t enough people to keep pace with demand,” he added.