Construction employment rose by 19,000 positions in February, as reported by the Associated General Contractors of America. The increase spanned all five nonresidential and residential segments of the industry. However, officials from the association expressed concerns that ongoing market uncertainties linked to tariffs and labor shortages due to changing immigration policies might hinder future job growth.
“Construction job growth hit a five-month high in February, following several months of lackluster gains,” stated Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. He noted that “industry employment and wage growth have been slowing over much of the past year.” Simonson emphasized that uncertainty around tariffs and immigration policies could lead to project delays and restrict further employment increases.
In February, construction employment reached 8,310,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, marking an increase of 19,000 from January. Over the last year, there was a total increase of 174,000 jobs or 2.1 percent. This is a decrease compared to the previous year’s addition of 189,000 jobs (2.4 percent). Nonresidential construction firms saw an addition of 123,000 employees (2.6 percent) from February 2024 to last month; this was fewer than the previous year’s addition of 148,000 (3.2 percent). Residential construction employment grew by 51,000 jobs (1.5 percent), slightly higher than the previous year’s gain of 41,000 jobs (1.3 percent).
The breakdown for February showed nonresidential construction firms adding 6,000 workers with specific increases: building construction gained 1,700 workers; specialty trades added 2,000; heavy and civil engineering construction increased by 2,500 workers. Residential construction saw an increase of 12,700 jobs with homebuilders adding 100 positions and residential specialty trade contractors contributing an additional 12,600 positions.
Average hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction increased by 4.0 percent over the year to $36.55 per hour—a slight decline from the previous year’s rise of 4.5 percent.
Association officials highlighted growing concerns about tariff impositions driving up material costs and restrictive work authorizations shrinking labor availability due to policy changes by the Trump administration.
Jeffrey Shoaf, chief executive officer of the association commented: “It is always great to see the industry adding new construction jobs.” He stressed that federal support is needed for education and training in construction along with expanded work authorization programs to meet demand adequately.
