Nonresidential Construction Adds Solid 27,900 Jobs in January

The construction industry added 33,000 jobs on net in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 44,000 jobs, an increase of 0.5%.

Nonresidential construction employment expanded by 27,900 positions, with gains in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added 25,100 jobs, while nonresidential building added 3,600 new positions. Heavy and civil engineering lost 800 jobs in January.

The construction unemployment rate was 6.9% in January. Unemployment across all industries decreased to 4.3% and is 0.3 percentage points higher than one year ago.

“The construction industry, much like the broader labor market, rebounded in January,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While that’s a welcome development, the industry lost 1,000 jobs in 2025, the first calendar year decline since 2020 and 2010 before that. Much of the industry’s weakness is concentrated in the residential segment, where employment has declined by 43,600 jobs over the past year.

“Despite the lack of job growth in 2025, the industry’s unemployment rate is only modestly higher than one-year ago,” said Basu. “That dynamic at least partially stems from immigration enforcement and the downward pressure it has put on the industry’s labor supply. Neither last year’s weak employment growth nor current labor force dynamics have weighed on contractor confidence, with ABC members still upbeat about both their sales and staffing levels over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”