Construction employment hit a 50-month high as employers added 11,000 jobs in October, the fifth consecutive month of sector job gains, and the industry unemployment rate fell to 9 percent, according to an analysis of new government data by AGC of America. Association officials said that the new employment figures indicate there was little nationwide short-term impact from the federal government shutdown and cautioned that skilled worker shortages are likely to grow as the industry continues to expand.
“After some very dramatic declines and years of sluggish growth, the construction industry is slowly adding jobs,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “The federal government shutdown did not appear to have undermined construction job growth in the short term probably because it did not significantly impact projects that were already underway.”
Read the full release here.