Construction Employment Rebounds by 26,000 in March
Job growth across the U.S. labor market in March, included the addition of 26,000 jobs in construction.
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On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 57,000 jobs, an increase of 0.7%.
Analysis of the data suggested a modest rebound.
Nonresidential construction employment increased by 12,200 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential building added the most jobs, increasing by 4,500 positions. Nonresidential specialty trade and heavy and civil engineering added 3,900 and 3,800 jobs, respectively, in March.
Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in March, including 932,000 workers employed by builders and remodelers and nearly 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors.
The construction unemployment rate was 6.7% in March. Unemployment across all industries dropped to 4.3% but is still 0.1 percentage points higher than one year ago.
“Construction employment rebounded in March as both the residential and nonresidential segments added jobs for the month,” said Anirban Basu, Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist. “Industrywide employment has expanded by an average of 19,300 jobs per month in 2026.”
He noted that is a marked improvement from 2025, when construction employment declined.
However, despite the March numbers, there remains cause for concern about the industry’s outlook in 2026.
“The March jobs data do not capture the detrimental ways in which the conflict in Iran will continue to affect the construction industry,” said Basu. “Oil prices have risen to heights not seen since 2022 and diesel prices have soared to $5.40 per gallon, up more than $1.90 per gallon from the start of 2026.”
He said while contractors appear optimistic about the near-term outlook as of February, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, it remains to be seen how long that optimism can persist under current economic conditions.
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