Construction Job Openings Down as Building Activity Slows
From NAHB NOW:
As higher interest rates slowed building activity at the end of 2018, the number of unfilled jobs in the construction sector decreased in November.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs fell to 278,000 in November. The October estimate was revised up to a cycle high of 323,000 – the highest count of open, unfilled construction sector jobs in the history of the data series, which began with reporting in December 2000.
NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz observed in an Eye on Housing blog post that although the overall trend for open construction jobs has been increasing since the end of the Great Recession, declines for housing construction activity at the end of 2018 are likely to place downward pressure on construction job openings in future data releases.