Construction Job Openings Fall in August

Employment opportunities in the construction industry continued to drop in August. According to an analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the National Association of Home Builders, the number of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry decreased from a revised 303,000 level in July to 188,000 in August. Compared with August 2024, there were 304,000 open, unfilled construction jobs. Additionally, the construction job openings rate declined to 2.2% in August, compared with the 3.6% rate reported the year prior.

The number of open jobs for the overall economy was effectively unchanged, increasing from 7.21 million in July to 7.23 million in August. The August reading was notably lower than the 7.65 million estimate from a year ago and reflects an overall cooling of the U.S employment market.

Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to move forward on interest rate reductions. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed, in theory, should be able to cut further in 2025.