After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of the residential construction industry, the count of open construction sector jobs remained lower than a year ago, per the January Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to analysis from the , the number of open jobs for the overall economy increased from 7.51 million in December to 7.74 million in January. This is notably smaller than the 8.47 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to feel more comfortable about labor market conditions and their potential impacts on inflation. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed in theory should be able to cut further despite a . However, tariff proposals may keep the Fed on pause in the coming quarters.
The number of open construction sector jobs increased from a revised 205,000 in December to 236,000 in January. This nonetheless marks a significant reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (407,000) due to a slowing of construction activity because of ongoing elevated interest rates.
The construction job openings rate edged higher to 2.8% in January, significantly down year-over-year from 4.8%.
The layoff rate in construction stayed low (1.8%) in January. The quits rate moved higher to 2% in January, near to its rate from a year ago.
