Construction Job Openings See Year-Over-Year Decline
Attracting skilled labor remains a high priority for the construction industry even as job openings begin to slow. Over the past seven months, residential construction has made up 96% of jobs lost during March and April while nonresidential construction has seen a 58% job recovery. Hiring even continued its upward trend in October with a hiring rate of 5.4% but layoffs actually slightly increased as well. The layoff rate is nothing like that of April or March where rates were 10.8% and 7.9%, respectively.
The job openings rate in construction was steady in October, remaining at a 3% rate, with 230,000 open positions in the sector. This is lower than the 325,000 count recorded a year ago, as the construction labor market adjusts to new conditions post-virus.