US construction firms boosted payrolls last month by the most since May 2022, helping the overall labor market nail down the strongest job growth in nearly a year.
Nearly 42% of the 39,000 increase in construction industry employment was due to the additions of nonresidential specialty trade contractors. However, payrolls growth also strengthened in the residential categories as well as heavy and civil engineering construction.
“Structural transformations in the economy, including replenished domestic supply chains, expanded data center demand and augmented infrastructure, are making it difficult for many project owners to wait for lower construction delivery costs,” Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors, said in a statement.
Some 8.2 million workers are in construction, representing the largest share of total private employment since the end of 2020.
According to the latest report from the Dodge Construction Network, 14 projects valued at $100 million or more entered the planning stage. The largest commercial project was a $215 million Microsoft Data Center in San Antonio, while the biggest institutional project was a $220 million amphitheater in McKinney, also in Texas.
— By Vince Golle (Bloomberg)
