Construction Employment Down in August

Construction employment levels were down in August, marking the fourth time in five months that fewer people were working in this industry, according to data from the Associated General Contractors of America. However, construction employment and the average hourly earnings for workers in this industry recorded year-over-year gains.

Construction employment totaled 6.64 million in August, which was 6,000 below July’s level but an increase of 199,000, or 3.1 percent, from August 2015. Furthermore, the increase in construction employment was nearly twice as great as the 1.7 percent increase for total nonfarm payroll employment during the same period. And the average hourly earnings for construction jobs was up 2.8 percent over the past year to $28.22 in August, nearly 10 percent higher than the increase for all nonfarm jobs.

The residential construction sector added 11,000 jobs in August to reach 132,000 employment opportunities, 5.4 percent higher than a year ago. Alas, nonresidential construction created the drag for August by losing 17,000 jobs for the month. Yet last month’s nonresidential construction jobs had 67,000 more employees compared to August 2015, a 1.7 percent increase.