Industry Employment and Wages Continue Rising Faster Than Overall Labor Market as Firms Perform Public and Technology Infrastructure Upgrades, But Politics Threatens to Undermine that Demand, Officials Caution
Construction firms added 22,000 jobs in July and 82,000 over 12 months, as pay for craft workers climbed faster than for production workers overall, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government data released today. Association officials cautioned, however, that politics threaten to undermine two of the strongest performing construction sectors, public infrastructure and data center work.
“The job gains in construction last month were the most since March, as firms continue to pay a premium to hire qualified workers.” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But any interruption in funding for highways or permitting for data centers would lead to layoffs in several parts of the industry.”
Construction employment totaled 8,343,000 in July, seasonally adjusted, an increase of 22,000 from June. Over the past 12 months, the industry has added 82,000 jobs, an increase of 1.0 percent, outpacing the 0.2 percent increase in total nonfarm payroll employment.
Gains in the industry were concentrated in nonresidential construction. Nonresidential firms added 20,000 employees in July and 126,400 positions or 2.6 percent over the past year. Residential builders and subcontractors combined added 2,100 workers in July but shed 44,200 positions over 12 months.
Among nonresidential firms, heavy and civil engineering construction employment increased by 400 positions for the month and 21,100 or 1.8 percent since July 2025. Nonresidential specialty contractors, whose employees work on highway and other civil projects as well as buildings, added 15,400 positions in July and 77,500 or 2.7 percent over the year. Nonresidential building firms added 4,200 employees in July and 27,800 or 3.0 percent over the year.
Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction, which covers most onsite craft workers as well as many office staff, increased to $39.24 per hour in July. That figure is 21.1 percent higher than the average for all private-sector production employees. Construction pay rose by 5.2 percent over the past year, compared to a 3.2 percent gain for production workers in the overall private sector.
Association officials warned that the sector’s future job gains could be at risk amid political threats to public and technology infrastructure markets. They warned that any delay in passing a new federal transportation bill will make it hard for transportation officials to plan significant new projects. They added that political efforts to impose moratoriums on the construction of new technology infrastructure – fueled by misinformation – are likely to undermine the fastest growing construction segment, data center construction.
“The construction sector is one of the few bright spots in this month’s jobs report, largely because of strong demand for public and technology infrastructure projects,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America. “It would be a shame for politics to undermine construction demand at a time when so many new people are entering high-paying careers in construction.”
View the construction employment data.