Construction hiring data indicates a cooling labor market
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Slow hiring and few job separations in February led to the lowest construction labor turnover rate since 2000, according to Anirban Basu, chief economist at ABC.
An article from Dive Brief Construction hiring data indicates a cooling labor market Low hiring and few job separations in February led to the lowest construction labor turnover rate since 2000, according to Anirban Basu, chief economist at ABC. Published April 1, 2026 Zachary Phillips Editor Share Copy link Email LinkedIn X/Twitter Facebook Print License Add us on Google Getty Images Listen to the article 2 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief: Construction job openings continued a slow start to the year as the industry counted 202,000 open positions on the last day of February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure represented a drop of 28,000 unfilled jobs from January and 53,000 fewer than a year ago. Of all construction jobs, 2.4% remained empty as the month ended. Economists flagged stagnation in both hiring and layoffs, indicating that contractors are holding onto their workforce and that workers were less inclined to leave their positions. Dive Insight: Construction’s hiring rate cooled significantly in February, dropping to 3.3% from 4.4% in January and 4.2% the year prior. That number reflects the number of hires during the month as a total share of employment. “Construction hiring fell to the slowest rate on record in February,” said Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors. “The combination of historically slow hiring and exceedingly few separations made February 20...
