A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the U.S. construction industry added 45,000 jobs during the month of April. According to Associated Builders and Contractors, nonresidential construction employment rose by 12,400 jobs in April while nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 20,200 new jobs following a loss of 9,000 jobs in March.
The following is a breakdown of construction employment in April:
• Nonresidential building construction employment fell by 7,800 jobs for the month but is up by 16,600 jobs (2.4 percent) from the same time last year.
• The heavy and civil engineering construction segment added 8,400 jobs in April and employment is up by 33,100 positions (3.6 percent) year-over-year.
• Residential building construction employment expanded by 2,800 jobs in April and is up by 41,200 jobs (6.3 percent) on an annual basis.
• Residential specialty trade contractors added 20,800 net new jobs in April and has added 102,400 jobs (6.8 percent) since April 2014.
• Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 20,200 jobs for the month and employment in that category is up by 76,400 jobs (3.5 percent) from the same time last year.
Mining and logging lost 15,000 net jobs in April after gaining jobs in every month during 2014. This sector lost more jobs during the first quarter of 2015 (-48,000) than it added in all of 2014.
“While the broader jobs report proved better than expected, April was the best month for construction employment since January 2014,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Though it may have been expected to see solid job creation performance reflected in today’s report, it is still a relief to obtain a nice piece of data. Economic data regarding retail sales, industrial production, and other elements of economic life have largely been disappointing to date and the March jobs report fell in line with that series of uninspired results. Data regarding unemployment claims strongly suggested that employers viewed the recent bout of economic weakness as temporary. The lack of new lay-off activity indicates an ongoing demand for labor and April’s reasonably strong employment gains suggest that many employers continue to search for additional staffing."
Related Stories
| Oct 5, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Award Silver Winner: Residences at the John Marshall, Richmond, Va.
In April 2010, the Building Team of Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio, Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates, Leppard Johnson & Associates, and Choate Interior Construction restored the 16-story, 310,537-sf building into the Residences at the John Marshall, a new mixed-use facility offering apartments, street-level retail, a catering kitchen, and two restored ballrooms.
| Oct 4, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Silver Winner: Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare, Cleveland, Ohio
The $30 million project resulted in three new theatres in the existing 81,500-sf space and a 44,000-sf contiguous addition: the Allen Theatre, the Second Stage, and the Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre.
| Oct 4, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Gold Winner: Wake Forest Biotech Place, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Reconstruction centered on Building 91.1, a historic (1937) five-story former machine shop, with its distinctive façade of glass blocks, many of which were damaged. The Building Team repointed, relocated, or replaced 65,869 glass blocks.
| Oct 4, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Award Platinum Winner: Building 1500, Naval Air Station Pensacola Pensacola, Fla.
The Building Team, led by local firms Caldwell Associates Architects and Greenhut Construction, had to tackle several difficult problems to make the historic building meet current Defense Department standards having to do with anti-terrorism, force protection, blast-proofing, and progressive collapse.
| Oct 4, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Platinum Winner: City Hall, New York, N.Y.
New York's City Hall last received a major renovation nearly a century ago. Four years ago, a Building Team led by construction manager Hill International took on the monumental task of restoring City Hall for another couple of hundred years of active service.
| Oct 4, 2012
BD+C's 29th Annual Reconstruction Awards
Presenting 11 projects that represent the best efforts of distinguished Building Teams in historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation and addition projects.
| Oct 4, 2012
Integrated security systems—replacing legacy systems
To a large degree, building security is driven by the integration of a variety of electronic security systems. The market and engineering of these systems exploded in the post-9/11 era and has shown few signs of tapering off.
| Oct 4, 2012
Gilbane publishes Fall 2012 construction industry economic report
Report outlines fluctuation in construction spending; predicts continued movement toward recovery.
| Oct 3, 2012
Fifth public comment period now open for update to USGBC's LEED Green Building Program
LEED v4 drafts and the public comment tool are now available on the newly re-launched, re-envisioned USGBC.org website.
| Oct 2, 2012
Dow Business Services Center building named 2012 “America’s Best Buildings of the Year” winner
Building constructed with air sealing and insulation products from Dow Building Solutions.
