News Release: Construction Unemployment Rates Improve

SPRINGBORO, Jan. 3—The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) national construction unemployment rate was 5 percent in November, down 0.7 percent from a year ago and the lowest November rate on record, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The construction industry employed 191,000 more workers than in November 2016. 

“Construction employment continues to show strength throughout much of the country, reflecting a healthy construction industry,” said Bernard M. Markstein, Ph.D., president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “Above-average temperatures and below-normal precipitation in much of country in November likely helped overall construction activity. Continued recovery and rebuilding efforts following 2017’s hurricanes, floods and wildfires has added to demand for workers, offsetting some of the normal seasonal downturn in construction employment.”
 
To better understand the basis for calculating unemployment rates and what they measure, see the article Background on State Construction Unemployment Rates in the State-by-State Construction Economics section at abc.org/economics.

For a more indepth discussion on this topic, contact John Morris, President of Ohio Valley Associated Builders & Contractors and the Ohio Valley Construction Education Foundation (937) 414-2408, john@ovabc.org.