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Dive Brief:
- Open construction jobs dropped to 288,000 on the last day of September, a decrease of 40,000 or about 12% from the previous month, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday.
- The report measures the number of open positions for which contractors are actively hiring. In September, 3.4% of construction jobs went unfilled, below the overall rate of 4.5%. Job openings were down by 134,000, or about 32%, from September 2023.
- Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors, attributed some of the drop to Hurricane Helene, which temporarily curtailed the number of open construction positions across the Southeastern U.S.
Dive Insight:
Helene, which made landfall at the end of the month, most likely impacted job openings by its timing, Basu said.
“Hurricane Helene, which did not dissipate until Sept. 29, temporarily suppressed the number of open construction positions across the Southeast,” Basu wrote in a release. “Because the BLS measures job openings on the final day of the relevant month, the data in this JOLTS release are almost certainly distorted.”
Indeed, ABC data indicates about half of its members intend to increase hiring in the next six months, indicating the drop in openings doesn’t signify a true softening in demand.
The storm played a role in September’s numbers, but the decline started before that, said Macrina Wilkins, senior research analyst for the Associated General Contractors of America. Job openings began to trend down year-over-year in August, which saw a 4% decrease from the same month a year prior.
“In hurricane-affected states like Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, there was only a slight decrease in the number of construction jobs added in September compared to the previous month,” Wilkins said. “This suggests that while local disruptions from Hurricane Helene likely impacted openings, they may not be the sole factor driving the decline.”
Wilkins also noted the job openings figure reflects postings on the last available day of the month, though other figures, like hirings, covers those made throughout the month.
“This difference could explain why, even as job openings decreased, hires increased by 9% from last year,” said Wilkins. “In other words, while hiring remained strong, firms may have paused new postings following the hurricane’s impact.”