Construction Industry Maintains Job Count in November
The cold weather isn't putting the construction industry down as job opportunities remain available, increasing both month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YOY). On Dec. 6, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) revealed an additional 1,000 net new construction jobs became available MoM in November, while the YOY total rose by 2%, or 146,000.
In November 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the number of construction jobs coming in just shy of 7.4 million. Last month, job numbers were recorded at more than 7.5 million, with the majority coming from nonresidential construction. Residential, nonresidential specialty trade contractor and residential specialty trade contractor jobs increased between 1.1% and 1.7%. Despite prior concerns of a near-term recession in the summer, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in the report the U.S. economy is experiencing "plentiful momentum."
"Few economists expected a recession to begin in 2019," Basu said. "Those who did will ultimately have been proven incorrect. However, 2020 could be quite different given the rising levels of uncertainty facing various decisionmakers as the global economy weakens, trade wars persist and next year's elections approach."
Some issues will continue, Basu added, including construction firms experiencing difficulty in finding skilled labor and workers heading toward retirement.
—Andrew Michaels, editorial associate
