The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry held steady amid a slowdown for housing, per the June Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of open jobs for the overall economy decreased slightly from 7.71 million in May to 7.44 million in June. This is about equal to the 7.41 million estimate reported a year ago but reflects a softened aggregate labor market.
Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve to move forward on interest rate reductions. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed, in theory, should be able to cut further despite a聽. There is growing pressure on the Fed to do so.
The number of open construction sector jobs was effectively unchanged from a revised 232,000 in May to 246,000 in June. This nonetheless marks a reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (285,000) due to a slowing of construction/housing activity. The chart below notes the recent decline for the construction job openings rate, which is now near the lows of 2019.
The construction job openings rate ticked up to 2.9% in June, although it is significantly lower year-over-year from 3.4%.
The layoff rate in construction held at 2% in June. The quits rate declined to 1.9% in June, up from 1.6% from a year ago.
