Construction Job Openings Grow, Layoff Rates Drop

Layoffs for construction jobs were most intense at the beginning of the pandemic, but as the industry continues to recover, job openings are coming back. In April, the layoff rate hit 10.8%, according to NAHB. March’s layoff rate hit 7.9%, but this number has only shrunk since. In July, the layoff rate was at 2.8% and the open jobs rate increased to 4.4%. Now, there are 344,000 total open construction sector jobs. To put it in perspective, at this time last year, there were 352,000 job openings. Builders are selling more and more homes, but still cite limited access to skilled construction workers.

The construction sector hiring rate continues to normalize, after it posted a 9.7% gain in May and 7% in June. It reached 5.6% in July. This is still higher than the 5% rate of hiring a year prior.

Construction sector layoffs have been low since May. In April, the layoff rate was 10.8%, after a loss of 7.9% in March. Since that time however, the layoff rate has been just 2.5% (May), 2.7% (June), and 2.8% (July).

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