Soft Job Openings Estimate for Construction

2025-04-01T10:14:37-05:00

After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of the residential construction industry, the count of open construction sector jobs remained lower than a year ago, per the February Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The number of open jobs for the overall economy declined from 7.76 million in January to 7.57 million in February. This is notably smaller than the 8.45 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to feel more comfortable about labor market conditions and their potential impacts on inflation. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed, in theory, should be able to cut further despite a recent pause. However, tariff proposals may keep the Fed on pause in the coming quarters. The number of open construction sector jobs increased from a revised 242,000 in January to 264,000 in February. This nonetheless marks a significant reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (429,000) due to a slowing of construction activity because of ongoing elevated interest rates. The chart below notes the recent decline for the construction job openings rate, which is now back to 2019 levels. The construction job openings rate edged higher to 3.1% in February, significantly down year-over-year from 5%. The layoff rate in construction stayed low (1.8%) in February. The quits rate was flat at 2% in February. Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Soft Job Openings Estimate for Construction2025-04-01T10:14:37-05:00

Year-over-Year Declines for Construction Job Openings

2025-03-11T12:15:39-05:00

After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of the residential construction industry, the count of open construction sector jobs remained lower than a year ago, per the January Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The number of open jobs for the overall economy increased from 7.51 million in December to 7.74 million in January. This is notably smaller than the 8.47 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to feel more comfortable about labor market conditions and their potential impacts on inflation. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed in theory should be able to cut further despite a recent pause. However, tariff proposals may keep the Fed on pause in the coming quarters. The number of open construction sector jobs increased from a revised 205,000 in December to 236,000 in January. This nonetheless marks a significant reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (407,000) due to a slowing of construction activity because of ongoing elevated interest rates. The construction job openings rate edged higher to 2.8% in January, significantly down year-over-year from 4.8%. The layoff rate in construction stayed low (1.8%) in January. The quits rate moved higher to 2% in January, near to its rate from a year ago. Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Year-over-Year Declines for Construction Job Openings2025-03-11T12:15:39-05:00

Construction Labor Market Softens

2025-02-04T12:15:25-06:00

After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of the residential construction industry, the count of open construction sector jobs remained lower than a year ago, per the December Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The number of open jobs for the overall economy decreased from 8.16 million in November to 7.6 million in December. This is notably smaller than the 8.89 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to feel more comfortable about labor market conditions and their potential impacts on inflation. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed in theory should be able to cut further despite a recent pause. The number of open construction sector jobs decreased from a revised 272,000 in November to just 217,000 in December. This marks a significant reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (434,000) due to a slowing of construction activity because of elevated interest rates. The construction job openings rate moved lower to 2.5% in December, significantly down year-over-year from 5.1%. This is the lowest open rate for the construction sector since 2017. The layoff rate in construction stayed low (1.8%) in December. The quits rate moved lower to 1.4% in December. This is the lowest quits rate for construction since the third quarter of 2020. Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Construction Labor Market Softens2025-02-04T12:15:25-06:00

Construction Labor Market Tightens A Little

2025-01-07T17:55:35-06:00

After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of the residential construction industry, the count of open construction sector jobs has remained lower than a year ago, per the November Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). However, the most recent data showed a slight gain for the number of open construction sector jobs. The number of open jobs for the overall economy increased from 7.84 million to 8.10 million in November. Nonetheless, this is notably smaller than the 8.93 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to feel more comfortable about labor market conditions and their potential impacts on inflation. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed is continuing a policy of interest rate cuts. The number of open construction sector jobs increased from a revised 259,000 in October to 276,000 in November. Nonetheless, the November reading of opening, unfilled construction jobs is lower than that registered a year ago (454,000) due to a slowing of construction activity because of elevated interest rates. The construction job openings rate edged higher to 3.2% in November but remains lower than a year ago, albeit with a fair amount of statistical month-to-month noise in the recent data. The layoff rate in construction remained in the 2% range in November (2.1%). The quits rate in construction fell to 1.7% in November. Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Construction Labor Market Tightens A Little2025-01-07T17:55:35-06:00

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