Job growth accelerated in July amid higher inflation and growing economic pressures. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 528,000, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% in July. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.7 million and has exceeded its February 2020 level. In July, residential construction gained 14,100 jobs, and non-residential construction added 18,300 jobs. Residential construction employment currently exceeds its level in February 2020, while 83% of non-residential construction jobs lost in March and April have now been recovered. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 528,000 in July, following a gain of 398,000 in June, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary.  It marks the largest gain since February 2022. The estimates for the previous two months were revised up. The May estimate was revised up by 2,000 from +384,000 to +386,000, while the June increase was revised up by 26,000. With these revisions, employment in May and June together was revised up by 28,000 from the previously reported ones. In the first seven months of 2022, more than 3.3 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 471,000 per month. As of July 2022, total nonfarm employment is back to pre-pandemic level in February 2020, meaning U.S. labor market is fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% in July from 3.6% in June, returning to the level in February 2020. The labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already with a job, ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 62.1% in July. Additionally, according to the Household Survey supplemental data, which come from questions added to the Current Population Survey (CPS) since May 2020, 7.1% of employed persons teleworked or worked at home in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the coronavirus pandemic in July, unchanged from the previous month. In May 2020, 35.4% of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic. Job growth in July was broad-based across sectors, led by gains in leisure and hospitality (+96,000), professional and business services (+89,000), and health care (+70,000). Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 32,000 in July, following a 16,000 gain in June. Residential construction gained 14,100 jobs, while non-residential construction employment gained 18,300 jobs in July. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.2 million in July, broken down as 902,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 11,900 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 120,800 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,186,500 positions. In July, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose by 0.4 percentage points to 3.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Headship Stabilizes During the Pandemic Housing BoomTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment

Despite interest rate hikes, job growth remained solid in June. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 372,000 and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6% in June. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.7 million and has exceeded its February 2020 level. In June, residential construction lost 4,100 jobs, and non-residential construction added 16,500 jobs. Residential construction employment currently exceeds its level in February 2020, while 79% of non-residential construction jobs lost in March and April have now been recovered. In June, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 372,000, following a gain of 384,000 in May, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary.  The estimates for the previous two months were revised down, suggesting modestly softening in labor market. The April estimate was revised down by 68,000 from +436,000 to +368,000, while the May increase was revised down by 6,000 to +384,000. With these revisions, employment in April and May together were revised down by 74,000 from the previously reported ones. In the first half of 2022, more than 2.7 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 457,000 per month. As of June 2022, total nonfarm employment is 524,000 lower than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, almost fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 3.6% for the fourth straight month. It was 11.1 percentage points lower than its recent high of 14.7% in April 2020 and 0.1 percentage point higher than the rate in February 2020. The labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already with a job, ticked down 0.1 percentage point to 62.2% in June. The decline in the participation rate was led by Black and Asian workers, while the labor force participation rate for White workers remained the same. The labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 decreased 0.3 percentage points to 82.3% in June. Additionally, according to the Household Survey supplemental data, which come from questions added to the Current Population Survey (CPS) since May 2020, 7.1% of employed persons teleworked or worked at home in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the coronavirus pandemic in June, down from 7.4% in the previous month. The share of the employed who teleworked has declined for the past five months. Two years ago, in May 2020, 35.4% of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic. Professional and business services (+74,000), leisure and hospitality (+67,000), and health care (+57,000) had notable job gains in June. Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 13,000 in June, following a 34,000 gain in May. Residential construction lost 4,100 jobs, while non-residential construction employment gained 16,500 jobs in June. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.2 million in June, broken down as 899,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 9,467 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 121,400 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,171,700 positions. In June, the unemployment rate for construction workers declined by 0.5 percentage points to 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis. It marks the lowest rate since May 2019. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Slightly Longer Time to Build Apartments in 2021Tags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment

In May, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 390,000 and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%. Solid job gains continued in May, despite surging inflation, persistent supply-chain issues, and fears of a possible recession. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.7 million and has exceeded its February 2020 level. Residential construction gained 16,700 jobs, and non-residential construction added 19,400 jobs in May. Residential construction employment currently exceeds its level in February 2020, while 78% of non-residential construction jobs lost in March and April have now been recovered. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 390,000 in May, following a gain of 436,000 in April, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. The March estimate was revised down by 30,000 from +428,000 to +398,000, while the April increase was revised up by 8,000 to +436,000. With these revisions, employment in March and April together were revised down by 22,000 from the previously reported ones. In the first five months of 2022, more than 2.4 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 488,000 per month. As of May 2022, total nonfarm employment is 822,000 lower than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, almost fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was unchanged, at 3.6% in May. It was 11.1 percentage points lower than its recent high of 14.7% in April 2020 and 0.1 percentage point higher than the rate in February 2020. The labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already with a job, increased 0.1 percentage points to 62.3% in May. The number of persons unemployed was little changed, while the number of persons employed increased by 321,000. The labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 increased to 82.6% in May. Additionally, according to the Household Survey supplemental data, which come from questions added to the Current Population Survey (CPS) since May 2020, 7.4% of employed persons teleworked or worked at home in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the coronavirus pandemic in May, down from 7.7% in the previous month. The share of the employed who teleworked has declined for the past four months. Two years ago, in May 2020, 35.4% of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic. In May, employment in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and transportation and warehousing increased, while employment in retail trade declined by 61,000 over the month, mainly reflecting losses in general merchandise stores (-33,000), clothing and clothing accessories stores (-9,000), food and beverage stores (-8,000), and building material and garden supply stores (-7,000). Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 36,000 in May, following no change in April. Residential construction added 16,700 jobs, and non-residential construction employment rose by 19,400 in May. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.2 million in April, broken down as 903,000 builders and 2.3 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 12,583 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 128,000 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,175,000 positions. In May, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose by 0.2 percentage points to 4.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ Apartment Absorption Increased while Completions FellTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 428,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%. The April’s data indicate that the labor market remained healthy despite surging inflation, tighter financial conditions, and the war in Ukraine. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.6 million and has returned to its February 2020 level. Non-residential construction lost 2,000 positions in April, reflecting a decline in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-6,400). Meanwhile, residential construction employment added 3,800 jobs, after an increase of 10,600 jobs in March. Residential construction employment currently exceeds its level in February 2020, while 75% of non-residential construction jobs lost in March and April have now been recovered. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 428,000 in April, the same gain as in March, as reported in the Employment Situation Summary. Job gains for February and March were revised downward. The February estimate was revised down by 36,000 from +750,000 to +714,000, while the March increase was revised down by 3,000 to +428,000. In the first four months of 2022, nearly 2.1 million jobs were created, and monthly employment growth averaged 519,000 per month. As of February 2022, total nonfarm employment is 1.2 million lower than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, almost fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was unchanged, at 3.6% in April. It was 11.1 percentage points lower than its recent high of 14.7% in April 2020 and 0.1 percentage point higher than the rate in February 2020. The labor force participation rate, the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already with a job, decreased 0.2 percentage points to 62.2% in April. It marks the lowest rate in the past three months. The number of persons unemployed was little changed, while the number of persons employed decreased by 353,000. The labor force participation rate for people who aged between 25 and 54 decreased to 82.4% in April. Additionally, according to the Household Survey supplemental data, which come from questions added to the Current Population Survey (CPS) since May 2020, 7.7% of employed persons teleworked or worked at home in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the coronavirus pandemic in April, down from 10.0% in the previous month. The share of the employed who teleworked has declined for the past three months. A year ago, in April 2021, 18.3% of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic. Job gains in April were widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and transportation and warehousing. Employment in the overall construction sector was barely changed (+2,000) in April, following a gain of 20,000 in March. Residential construction added 3,800 jobs, while non-residential construction employment lost 2,000 positions in April. Residential construction employment now stands at 3.1 million in March, broken down as 897,000 builders and 2.2 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 11,267 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 113,200 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,157,300 positions. In April, the unemployment rate for construction workers declined by 0.9 percentage points to 3.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has been trending lower, after reaching 14.2% in April 2020, due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related ‹ The Fed Commits to Aggressive Tightening of Monetary PolicyTags: employment, labor force, labor force participation rate, residential construction employment