Article source: ConstructConnect
February was another great month for jobs creation in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as set out in the latest Employment Situation report, the total number of positions nationwide rose by +678,000.
The construction industry made a significant contribution to that two-thirds-of-a-million jobs gain through net hiring of +60,000 jobs. Most of the +60,000 increase was at the sub-trade level, with residential specialty contractors upping their staffing by +24,000 jobs and non-residential specialty contractors taking on an additional +20,000 employees.
The seasonally adjusted (SA) national unemployment rate (often referred to as the ‘headline’ rate) in February tightened to 3.8% from 4.0% in January. The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) unemployment rate decreased to 4.1% in the latest month from 4.4% in the previous month.
Construction’s NSA U rate contracted to 6.7% in February from 7.1% in January. In February 2020, the percentage of construction workers shunted to the sidelines had been 9.6%.
