According to the Associated Builders and Contractors Association, (ABC), the construction industry had 259,000 job openings on the last day of April, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 25,000 the previous month and are up by 52,000 from the same time last year.
“This release of April data suggests that contractors are increasingly struggling to fill open positions,” said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “Fewer construction workers were laid off in April than in any month since the first half of 2022, and industrywide job openings, while still relatively low by historical standards, are up more than 25 percent over the past year.
“These dynamics likely stem from immigration policy and the shrinking number of undocumented workers, as well as acute shortages of certain trades workers, including those involved in data center construction. While contractors remain broadly optimistic about increasing their staffing levels over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, labor availability is unlikely to improve over the short term.”
Published July 2026
