Both the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) have reported that construction added 60,000 jobs in February, according to the groups' analyses of government data.
Further, AGC said hourly pay rose at the steepest pace in nearly 40 years, and ABC said the industry has recovered virtually all (99 percent) of the jobs lost during earlier stages of the pandemic.
Average hourly earnings for “production and nonsupervisory employees”—largely, hourly craft workers, in the case of construction—increased 6.0 percent from February 2021 to last month. That was the steepest 12-month increase since December 1982, noted AGC chief economist Ken Simonson.
“All segments of construction added workers in February,” Simonson said. “However, filling positions remains a struggle, as pay is rising even faster in other sectors.”
The industry average of $31.62 per hour for such workers exceeded the private sector average by 17 percent, the economist pointed out. Nevertheless, the average for the entire private sector climbed even more in February—6.7 percent year-over-year—and the competition for workers has intensified as other industries offer working conditions that are not possible in construction, such as flexible hours or work from home.
ABC reported that nonresidential construction employment increased by 29,400 positions in February, with all three subsectors experiencing growth, and is up 3.9 percent over the past twelve months. The residential sector added 31,000 in February and is up 4.5 percent since February 2021.
The construction unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent in February. Unemployment across all industries declined to 3.8 percent, down from 4.0 percent in January.
“Bottom line: The U.S. economy is charging into the post-pandemic world with significant momentum, and nonresidential construction is part of that story,” said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “At the heart of America’s economic momentum is rapid workforce growth, with more people re-entering the workforce to take advantage of higher wages and to better contend with rapidly rising prices.
“Evidence indicates that contractors have had a somewhat easier time filling available positions recently,” said Basu. “There are also indications that supply chain issues have improved slightly, though the Ukraine/Russia war may create new issues on that front. With demand strong and the supply side of the economy in repair, 2022 is setting up to be a strong year for contractors."
The number of unemployed jobseekers with construction experience shrank by 26 percent over the past year, from February 2021 to 677,000 in February 2022, AGC reported. Simonson said the decline is further evidence that the industry will have a hard time filling positions with experienced workers.
Association officials said it is clear the industry will need to hire hundreds of thousands of additional workers in each of the next several years to complete projects that will be funded by the recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure law, as well as to satisfy the continuing demand for homebuilding and private nonresidential structures. AGC officials urged Congress and the Biden administration to increase funding for career and technical education and to support a wider range of apprenticeship and training opportunities.
“Construction firms are doing all they can to add employees and pay them well,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the AGC’s CEO. “But there are not likely to be enough workers to meet demand unless officials in Washington act now to prepare more jobseekers for these opportunities.”
Sources: AGC, ABC
