Construction labor market remains tight

The construction labor market continues to be tight as the industry saw job opening numbers rise year-over-year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The number of open construction jobs declined for the month to 337,000 unfilled positions in December. 

The highest level in the history of the data series (going back to late 2000) was 445,000 in October 2021. 

But the housing market remains underbuilt and requires additional labor, lots, lumber and building materials to add inventory, says Robert Dietz, chief economist of the NAHB.

But even as the job openings rate in construction edged down to 4.3% in December, with 337,000 open positions in the sector, this is significantly higher than the 267,000 count recorded a year ago, according to Robert Dietz, chief economist of the NAHB.

Hiring in the construction sector increased 4.3% in December. The post-pandemic peak rate was in May 2020 and an increase of 10.3%. This rise took place as home building and remodeling rebounded in the Spring of that year.

Layoffs in construction fell in December to a 1.7% rate. In April 2020, the layoff rate was 10.9%. Since that time, the sector layoff rate has been below 3%, with the exception of February 2021 due to weather effects. 

The rate trended lower in 2021 due to the skilled labor shortage, the NAHB said.