Construction employment rebounds in September

According to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry added 19,000 jobs on net in September and 38,000 jobs through the first nine months of 2025, an 0.5 percent increase compared with 2024.

ABC says nonresidential construction employment increased by 16,300 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added 11,100 jobs, while heavy and civil engineering and nonresidential building added 4,900 and 300 jobs, respectively.

“Construction employment increased in September, ending a streak of three consecutive monthly declines,” ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu says. “Despite the rebound, the industry has added just 2,000 jobs since March. While weakness is largely concentrated in the residential segment, with nonresidential employment growing at a modest pace over the past year, recent construction spending data suggests that activity in the nonresidential segment is beginning to contract as well."

Unemployment in the sector increased to 3.8 percent in September. ABC added that unemployment across all industries increased to 4.4 percent in September, up 0.1 percent compared to August.

Basu says contractors remain confident that hiring will pick back up during the next six months. ABC says nearly half of its members expect their staffing levels to increase during that same span while fewer than 12 percent expect to contract.

“Even with the industry’s paltry job growth in 2025, the construction unemployment rate remained relatively low in September at 3.8 percent,” Basu says. “While that dynamic, tepid hiring but stable unemployment, indicates a lack of labor force growth, construction wages grew at a healthy pace for the month, suggesting that labor shortages are no longer putting significant upward pressure on labor costs.

ABC added that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will not publish October employment data because of the government shutdown, so the industry won’t have another assessment of its labor market health until it publishes data for November on Dec. 16.